Once upon a Sakura flower
by emm297
Summary: Toushime Sakura has a crush on her captain/childhood friend and is afraid to tell him how she feels. And, her posting to the real world makes things even more difficult. HitsuXOC, rated T in case. COMPLETED, WITH EPILOGUE!
1. The Truth and Beginning

A/N: This is my 1st fanfic with pairings! Hope you guys like it reviewwww please! Arigato!

Disclaimer: I do not own bleach, if I did, I would make the HitsuHina pairing a strictly-no-no for people. (See my profile for reasons). But I really wish I did own Bleach… That way my OC could be inside!

Sakura: Ooh… that'll be fun!  
Emm297: Yeh, I agree. Heck, let the story begin!

==x==

"Taicho! Even though you've got tons of paperwork doesn't mean you can skip sleep, you know…" Matsumoto said.

"And let's not forget who made me do this much work in the first place!" Hitsugaya Toushiro replied sarcastically.

Just then, the door to the 10th division's office opened, revealing a girl with dark brown hair which was pulled back into a ponytail. She had a smile on her face as she stepped into the office.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Matsumoto yelled, as she ran forward to hug the small girl.

"Rangiku-san… can't… breathe…" said the girl named Sakura, who was as tall as the 10th division's taicho and also roughly looking the same age as him.

"Sakura-chan, could you talk some sense into Taicho? He's been at it the WHOLE day already…" Matsumoto whined.

"I'll try… But I won't guarantee that a 3rd seat of the 10th squad will be able to do it," said Sakura.

"Sakura, what do you want now…" growled the young captain.

"Just dropped by to see how my two best friends were doing… Shiro-chan", Sakura smiled and blushed, as she ruffled the guy's hair.

"That's Hitsugaya-taicho to you. Not Shiro-chan", said the captain in an annoyed tone.

"I knew you'd say that." Sakura laughed and ruffled his hair once more.

"Sakura-chan! Let's not bother taicho then… Come! I want to talk to you!" Matsumoto chirped.

With that, she dragged Sakura, with a 'What-is-she-gonna-do-to-me' look on her face, out into the open field behind the division quarters.

==x==

"Now… Sakura-chan. How long have you been crushing on Taicho?" Matsumoto asked, her hands on her hips.

"Nani? I do not have a crush on him! Whatever gave you that idea?" Sakura retorted fiercely.

"Well…for starters, you always blush when you see him, you always blush when he looks you in the eye… well… I could list down a whole list if I wanted to. So, are you gonna admit it or not?"

Sakura stared, her icy blue eyes meeting those of her fukitaichos. She and Toushiro had been pals since they met in Rukongai, along with Hinamori. Soon after Hinamori graduated from the Shinigami Academy, Matsumoto had chanced upon both her and Hitsugaya, and convinced both of them to attend the Academy because of their high reiatsu levels.

Yes, she did in fact like Hitsugaya, but as friends, as they always kept each other company when Hinamori wasn't around, back in Rukongai. But after their graduation from the Shinigami Academy, she had found new… what's that word? Feelings, for her Taicho. But she put them all at the back of her mind, thinking that there was no use in harping over it; Hitsugaya probably didn't like her that way after all.

"Sakura-chan?" Matsumoto asked worriedly, waving her hands in front of the 3rd seat's face. Startled, Sakura jumped a little and shook her head.

"Rangiku-san. I'll tell you truthfully, but you must never tell anyone about it. If I find out you did, then I'll immediately destroy your whole stash of sake, understand?" Sakura said sternly, wagging a finger in front of her face.

"Hai! Now tell me quick! You like him don't you?"

"Yeah… I do… But you must promise not to tell anyone ok?" Sakura emphasized again.

"Of course. I won't. Ok, I'm going to bed now, see you in the morning Sakura-chan!" And with that, Matsumoto skipped happily away, pleased with the answer she got.

Sakura took a deep breath. True, there were sometimes when she didn't appreciate Hitsugaya's cold attitude, but she had already gotten used to it. The white ribbon that held her ponytail in place was given to her by Hitsugaya himself, when they were little. He picked it up from the ground one day and gave it a wash, before handing it to her, saying that "It will look nice with your hair". Since then, she always wore that ribbon, refusing to take it off unless she needed to. With a final deep breath, she walked away quietly, deciding that now wasn't the time to think about all this, making a mental note to smack herself on the forehead for telling Matsumoto about it.

==x==

_The next morning_

"Ohayo Sakura-chan!" said a very ecstatic looking Matsumoto.

"Ohayo…" Sakura replied, then adding, "Rangiku-san, you won't tell anyone about…about what I said…last night… right?"

"Of course! I won't breathe a word to anyone." Matsumoto patted the young girl on her back and smiled. "Well, I guess we'd better be going now. Taicho's going to scream at us if we don't show up in 3 minutes."

Sakura nodded, and the both of them shunpo-ed to the study of the 10th division.

Just as they were turning a corner, a hell butterfly flew in front of them, and forced them to stop.

"Sakura Toushime of the 10th squad, please see Yamamoto sou-taicho immediately."

"What would the Captain Commander want with me?" Sakura asked inquisitively, as Matsumoto just raised her shoulders. "I don't know, but you better go see," she said. And with a nod and a "see you later", Sakura rushed off to meet the old guy.

==x==

"Sir, you called?" Sakura said politely, bowing down before the Sou-taicho.

"Yes. Now, Sakura. Let's get down to business…" Yamamoto said.

==x==

A/N: well… that's the 1st chapter. Hope you guys liked it, I've got the next few chapters done up already, just need to do a quick editing for some parts. Anyway, please review and I might update quickly… depends on my mood. See ya!

P.s: The next chapter is about the mission that Yamamoto gave Sakura (oops, I just told you what he wanted with her). The plot of this story gets nicer from there! XD


	2. Posting

Emm297: Sakura, if you would…  
Sakura: Hai! Emm-chan does not own Bleach at all because she's not Tite Kubo! She owns me and my Zanpakutou and its moves.  
Emm297: What she said.

==x==

"Yes. Now, Sakura. Let's get down to business…" Yamamoto said.

"Now… Latest reports have shown that there are an increasing number of hollow appearances in the real world. In fact, there are more hollows there than we could ever imagine." Yamamoto said, stroking his beard at the same time.

"Hai… and this concerns me… how exactly?" Sakura asked, trying to sound as polite as she could, even thought she was already losing her patience.

"Well… after much thought, I have chosen to send you to be stationed in the real world…" Yamamoto started, but was cut off by Sakura.

"NANI?"

"Hai hai… we have decided to send a 3rd seat and we thought that you might be just the Shinigami for the job… unless you're afraid you can't handle it?" Yamamoto said, in a tone that made Sakura even more pissed off. She was never one to admit she couldn't do anything, and the sou-taicho's words were OBVIOUSLY trying to do that, so of course she had no choice…

"Hai hai… I understand. When do I start?"

"In 15 minutes, the Senkai Gate will open for you," Yamamoto said, clearly pleased with himself.

"NANI? FIFTEEN MINUTES? THAT SOON? But…but…" Sakura tried to think of an excuse that could prolong her stay, but she just couldn't. "How long will I be there for?"

"Approximately 3 months. However, if all goes well, 2 and a half months will be sufficient." The Sou-taicho smiled.

Sakura's eyes were wide with shock. 3 months? That long? And 15 minutes wasn't enough time to say goodbye to Matsumoto and Hitsugaya! However, she simply nodded and started to exit the door, when Yamamoto called out to her.

"Oh, and Sakura. Don't get into trouble there."

Sakura rolled her eyes and left to pack her things.

==x==

Back at her room, Sakura started packing her things, which included stuff like this mini photo-taking pen-looking thing, (given to her by Urahara, whom she met in Karakura once) which she had taken many photos with, but had no idea how to get the photos out on paper. She also found a small silver heart-shaped locket in one of her drawers.

"Argh, that Yamamoto! Can't he see that I'm needed here? Couldn't he send a 10th seat or something?" she complained and whined and sighed, with an occasional "Shimitta!" as she hurried to find her stuff.

"Now… Don't get too worked up…" her Zanpakutou, Kasumi, said to her.

"How am I NOT supposed to get worked up? I can't even say goodbye to my friends!"

"Your friends, or A friend… A certain white-haired Shinigami perhaps?" Kasumi added jokingly.

"Shut up! You're not helping here!" A very annoyed Sakura yelled, which resulted in Kasumi to smirk, thus causing Sakura to sigh. She hurriedly took her remaining yukatas and extra robes and started cramming everything into her small purple backpack.

"You know, you could always write a note…" Said Kasumi, with a hint of concern in her voice.

Sakura zipped her backpack and looked up. "Yeah… Yeah! I could!" She hastily got out a piece of paper and scribbled a note. The sound of the pen scratching furiously on the piece of paper was the only sound that could be heard in the room, as Kasumi watched the brown-haired girl scribble on the piece of paper.

A minute later, she was done.

"HA! I'M FINISHED WITH THE NOTE!" Sakura said cheerily as she picked up Kasumi, her backpack and her note and rushed out of her room.

Sakura slipped into the 10th division's study and looked around. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto weren't there. "I wonder where they are…" She thought aloud, before leaving the note on the desk, in plain sight of anyone who was near the desk. She smiled and took a look around. "See you in three months, then…" she said, as she exited the room and ran to the Senkai gate.

==x==

"Ano… Ukitake-taicho? What are you doing here?" Sakura had just arrived at the gate and found Ukitake standing there, by himself.

"Ahh… Toushime-san. I'm here to help you with the gate!" He smiled, as he reached into his pockets and took out a packet of what-seemed-like peanut shells.

"And… I wanted to hand this to you. It mustn't be easy… leaving Soul Society like this… without having a chance to bid farewell…" He smiled again, as he handed Sakura the packet of "peanut shells", which upon closer inspection was in fact sweets.

"Arigato! Well… See you then, Ukitake-taicho!" And with that, Sakura walked through the gate.

==x==

_Back in Hitsugaya's study…_

"MATSUMOTO! GET BACK HERE NOW!" yelled Hitsugaya, as he entered the study. Matsumoto had arrived in the morning, muttering something about Sakura and a hell butterfly, and then proceeded to go "make some tea" for herself and him. And that was 30 minutes ago. Who needs 30 minutes to make tea?

As he cursed under his breath, he noticed a piece of paper on his table, with the words "To Hitsugaya Taicho and Rangiku-san" on it. Slowly, he unfolded the piece of paper…

(AFTER 3 MINUTES)

"TAICHO! I'M BACK!" Matsumoto came striding into the room, clearly more refreshed after her self-proclaimed break. She looked up at her Taicho, only to find him sunk back into his chair, looking all moody and annoyed. She hurried over to him and saw the note on his table. Picking it up, she began to read…

_Dear Taicho and Rangiku-san_

_I have been sent on a mission to the real world to exterminate the hollows that appear there. I hope that you both will be fine during the 3 months or so that I will be gone. _

_Rangiku-san, try not to take so many breaks, yeah? _

_Taicho, don't overwork yourself too, k?_

_Sakura._

_P.S: Sorry I couldn't say goodbye._

Matsumoto stared at the piece of paper for awhile. So that's what the old man wanted with Sakura. She looked at her Taicho, who was busy staring at the window. She sighed, knowing that he (although he wouldn't admit it) missed Sakura already. Who wouldn't miss the little bubbly Shinigami?

==x==

Sakura stepped out of the gate and looked around, taking in all the sights. She sighed and decided to look go to Urahara's shop for a Gigai.

As soon as she stepped into the shop, she was greeted by the overly-enthusiastic shopkeeper.

"Ahh… Sakura-chan! Here to get a gigai I suppose?" He asked, leading her into the back of his shop. Sakura nodded and followed obediently.

"Here, I hope you like it." Urahara pointed to the corner of the store, where a little gigai lay against the wall. Sakura immediately fused with it and pouted. "It's a little stiff, but it will have to do. Thanks."

She stretched out her arms and legs and started to wriggle them about, trying to make them loosen up a little. "Oh yeah, Urahara-san, have you got a place to stay? I mean for 3 months. Currently I don't have any place in mind… Even a storage room could do…" Sakura asked nervously.

"Oh… I'm sorry Sakura-chan. My storage room has many piles of boxes. New goods, you see. Not even I can fit inside, let alone you."

"Oh well… Thanks anyway. Ok, I got to go now if I want to find a place. See ya Urahara-san!" Sakura chirped and started to go out of the door, when Urahara stopped her.

"Sakura-chan. If you want to blend in for 3 months, you should probably attend school, like a normal teenager. Here, I've got 3 extra sets of girls' uniforms and a set of books you'll need. Just tell the teacher that you're a new transfer student. I'm sure you'll be able to cook up a nice story." He shoved a plastic bag full of stuff at Sakura and smiled. "Here. This is the school's address!" He handed her a little card and gave his goofy smile again.

"Ok… Ano… Urahara-san, why do you have all these? Especially GIRL uniforms?" Sakura questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Urahara just laughed and showed Sakura the door.

==x==

After many desperate attempts to get a room (by then it was close to 10 at night in Karakura), Sakura finally found one that was in a 2 level house. There were steps to the front door and flower pots littering the corners of the steps. The lady who lived there was kind enough to let her stay in a room for 20 dollars for a month. Apparently Soul Society didn't think that she would need money… The 20 bucks came from Urahara (she found it in the bag of school stuff). After profusely thanking the lady, Sakura rushed up to her "new" room.

"Creeeeeeek…" The door made a horrid screeching sound and Sakura hated it. She opened the door slowly and stood there shocked. The room was surprisingly small. The windows had curtains that were almost ripped to shreds, the table at the side was swaying from side to side and the chair was on the brink of decaying. Also, the only electrical appliance in the room was a tiny light bulb, screwed loosely onto the wall closest to the bathroom door. "At least there's a toilet…" Sakura thought to herself. In fact, the only thing that looked acceptable was probably the bed. The bed had a velvet cushion, an ultramarine blanket and the sheets were icy blue. Smiling to herself, Sakura thought aloud, "well… that's what you get for a 20-per-month room. At least the bed looks nice…"

Running towards the bed, Sakura jumped on it and lay down. Just as she closed her eyes, a creaking sound came from under her and "BAM!" the whole bed came crashing down.

"Argh… looks like even the bed's not proper…." Groaning, Sakura took out a piece of cloth from her bag and laid it on the floor. She laid the uniform on the broken bed and took the cushion and blanket to snuggle up to. Looking at the ceiling, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

==x==

Emm297: There people! Had lots of fun doing this chapter! Chapter 3 will come up **soon**, I promise. Please R&R yeah? You know you want to click that button.

Cookies will be dished out to everyone who reviews next!


	3. The Meeting at School

Emm297: As promised, COOKIES EVERYONE! *HANDS OUT COOKIES* Thanks to everyone who reviewed! ARIGATO! Now, Sakura, if you please…  
Sakura: Emm-chan does not own Bleach! She owns me, my Zanpakutou and its moves. Oh, and the plot. Half of it anyway. Some parts are by Tite Kubo and Emm-chan used them!  
Emm297: Right back atcha.

==x==

It was already morning when Sakura woke up.

"Argh… good morning evil cruel world! Morning to the broken bed, to the light bulb, to the uniform… SHIMATTA! UNIFORM! SCHOOL! 'groan'" Sakura grumbled, after waking up. Quickly, she brushed her teeth (even Shinigami have hygiene standards you know) and changed into her uniform.

After leaving the house, she stopped at a convenience store and got a tiny bun that cost a few bucks (which she found in the pocket of her uniform) and rushed off to "Karakura High School".

==x==

"Class, today we have a new transfer student joining us…" The sensei beckoned for Sakura to enter the class.

"Hajimemashite I'm Sakura Toushime." Sakura said indifferently. She looked around. People were starting to look up and smile at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an orange haired boy and thought, "Cool. Orange hair. He must fit in a lot. Kinda reminds me of Toushiro-chan…" Sakura smiled unknowingly to herself. "Ahh… Sakura… How about you sit there behind Kurosaki. Kurosaki, raise your hand please!" The sensei said. Immediately, the orange hair boy raised his hand. Sakura shrugged and walked over, taking the seat behind him. "Kurosaki, can I trust you to show Sakura around?" Sensei asked. The supposed "Kurosaki" nodded his head.

_(LATER ON…)_

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing….." The bell sounded and the sensei dismissed the class. Seeing as everyone had paid attention and there was a new student, she decided not to give the class homework, much to everyone's surprise. When she left, everyone came crowding around Sakura and started talking to her all at once. She could only make out a few random words like "Japan… School… Where… Happy…Why… Here…".

Then, the orange haired boy spoke up. "Alright alright… give the girl some break will ya?" At once, the crowd dispersed, leaving Sakura wide-eyed.

"How did you do that?" she spoke.

"Do what?"

"You just said a sentence and they… all left!"

"Oh that… It's nothing."

"No it is! I can't even get my subordinates…" she stopped mid-way and corrected herself. "I mean, classmates to listen to me like that."

He smiled and stuck out his hand. "Never mind that. Kurosaki Ichigo."

Sakura stared for a second and grabbed his hand and shook it. "Toushime Sakura."

Then, the two of them left the classroom.

==x==

After Ichigo had roughly shown her around the school, they decided to sit at the lunch area, under a huge shady tree.

"I'm starved…" Ichigo stretched his arms and took out a container of food. Sakura peered inside. Almost immediately, her eyebrows went way up. Inside the lunch box was rice, chicken, a few sausage buns and a huge slice of chocolate cake.

"Wow." Sakura muttered and Ichigo, who managed to hear her, just laughed. "My sister made it." And he began eating his rice like there was no tomorrow.

Sighing, Sakura looked at him eat. She had absolutely no idea that she was supposed to bring lunch to school. Anyway, she had no money left and couldn't possibly buy some. Then, she remembered the packet of "peanut shell look-alike" sweets that Ukitake had given her. Thinking to herself that that would have to do, she took the packet out from her pocket and unwrapped one sweet.

"Hey, where's your lunch?" Ichigo asked, his mouth still full of rice grains. Sakura pointed to the sweet she was holding and said, "I didn't know that we were supposed to bring your own lunch… Anyway, never mind, I'm not that hungry anyway." She added. All of a sudden, her stomach growled in protest.

"Damn…" Sakura mumbled as Ichigo started laughing hysterically. "It's not funny!" Sakura said as her cheeks turned red. "Sorry…sorry… couldn't help it…" Ichigo apologized, still smiling. "Here, I suppose I could share some with you…" He handed her 2 sausage buns and half of his cake, and continued eating again.

Looking down at the food, Sakura felt herself smile and mutter a "Arigato", to which Ichigo just smirked. Biting onto a sausage bun, she thought to herself, "Perhaps this isn't so bad after all…"

==x==

After school, Ichigo had volunteered to show Sakura around the area (as in Karakura town), so she wouldn't get lost. Happily, she agreed.

When they were walking by the house where she had rented a room, they heard someone scream Sakura's name. Looking up, they saw the lady who owned the house, beckoning for Sakura to come up to the door. After telling Ichigo to wait, she rushed up the stairs and the lady started saying something about a guy who offered to pay 10 times as much money that Sakura had paid, for the room that she was currently using. "So… you want me to move out?" Sakura asked politely, hoping that the answer would be no, even though she knew what the woman would say. "Yes, I'm so sorry…. But I'll return you your 20 dollars and even give you an extra 5." The lady handed Sakura a wad of notes and apologized again. Shaking her head, Sakura went back down the steps again.

"What did she want with you? " Ichigo questioned.

"Well, I got kicked out of my rented room, which, by the way was totally hideous anyway, I'm now 25 dollars richer and unless u know of a place that will provide shelter for me for 25 bucks, I'm completely homeless now," Sakura finished in one huge breath.

"Well…" Ichigo thought for awhile before adding, "I do know of one place that can provide free food and lodging…" Almost at once Sakura yelled, "WHERE? TELL ME PLEASE…"Smirking to himself, Ichigo led the way.

==x==

"Here we are." Ichigo said, pointing to a beautiful 2 story house that had the sign "Kurosaki Clinic" on the front.

"A clinic? And what has this got to do with you?" said Sakura, noticing the 'Kurosaki' part.

"Ha, this is my house." Ichigo smiled before explaining everything to a very confused looking Sakura.

"Come on in!"

Sakura felt herself listening to Ichigo as her feet shuffled towards the door. The door opened and almost at once, a guy came flying out yelling "ICHIGOOOOO!" Ichigo responded by giving the guy a punch on the face and the guy dropped down to the floor. Stunned, Sakura turned to Ichigo. "Dad, this is Sakura." Ichigo said indifferently. "DAD?" Sakura said in complete surprise. Ichigo's dad then looked up and saw Sakura, who quickly bowed in respect. "Masaki! Our Ichigo has finally brought a girl home! 'sniff' He's growing up!" Ichigo's dad yelled to the sky, which earned him another punch to the face by Ichigo.

Laughing, Sakura followed Ichigo into the living room, where a brown haired girl came in, wearing an apron, followed by a black-haired girl. "Onii-chan… dinner's rea-" The brown-haired girl called out, but stopping mid-sentence after noticing Sakura standing with her brother. "Yuzu, Karin, this is Sakura. She's gonna be staying here for awhile so please make her feel at home ok?" Ichigo said, putting his bag down on the floor. "Wait… I never said I would be staying here!" Sakura yelled in protest, when Ichigo cut in."Well… do you have any other alternative?" To which Sakura just shook her head and rolled her eyes. The brown-haired girl smiled and introduced herself as the one to be Yuzu and the other as Karin. "ICHIGOOOOO!" was heard again, as Ichigo's dad came flying into the living room yet again. Apparently, he never learnt his lesson. With another punch from her classmate, Ichigo's dad went flying again.

==x==

After dinner, Ichigo asked his dad where Sakura could sleep. "Well… the living room could do, you know…" suggested Sakura, but Ichigo shook his head. "Nah, wouldn't want him to come running into the living room and accidentally knocking you over." After realizing that the 'him' meant his father, Sakura let out a small laugh again. "How about the guest room?" Ichigo asked his dad, but the latter shook his head again. "I just put all my new stocks inside, with all my books and Yuzu's box of dolls. Unless Sakura-chan is willing to sleep on uneven backing, then yeah, she can sleep there." Sakura looked at Ichigo and violently shook her head. If she wanted to sleep on that kind of backing, she could just go to Urahara's and be done with it. "Fine… Sakura, do you mind sleeping in my room?" Sakura froze at the words 'my room'. "Your room?" her voice had suddenly became very soft.

"Yeah, I could get a mattress and you could share the room with me."

"Oh…" Sakura heaved a sigh of relief, and then nodded her head.

==x==

After a nice warm bath that Yuzu had helped her prepare, Sakura stepped into Ichigo's room. It was kinda plain but reminded her about her own room back in Soul Society. Ichigo had already gotten out a futon. "I've gotten out the mattress already. You can take my bed while I sleep-" He was interrupted by Sakura. "Nani? It's ok, I'll sleep on the mattress. You take your bed." She said, which resulted in a 5 minute argument about who was going to sleep where. Finally, Ichigo gave in and Sakura managed to get her way by sleeping on the mattress.

"Well then, since we have no homework and I'm poofed, I'm gonna sleep now." Ichigo jumped and landed on his bed and muttered a "oyasumi nasai" before he promptly fell asleep.

Smiling to herself, Sakura sat on her mattress and stared at the night sky. So far, no hollows had appeared but she was sure some would; it was just a matter of time. Taking in a deep breath, she thought of the day's events as well as Ichigo's family. "This I can get used to." She mumbled to herself, before taking out her bag and checking the contents of it.

Rummaging through the bag, she found the silver locket that she had found whilst packing the other day in Soul Society. Opening the locket, she found a photo of her, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto together, with Hitsugaya and herself standing in front of Matsumoto. Matsumoto and herself were smiling and Hitsugaya, as usual, had his icy expression on. Looking at the photo, Sakura suddenly felt hot tears forming in her eyes. Instead of wiping them away, she just let the tears roll down her cheek as she turned the locket over. At the corner, the words "Happy birthday Sakura" were engraved on it. Taking a closer look at it, she saw the initials "H.T" engraved below the words as well. Smiling even though the tears still fell, Sakura closed the locket and held in close to her and stared out the window and tried to remember all the memorable times that she and her two best friends shared. With those in mind, Sakura fell asleep, with the tracks of the tears still tracing her face, but smiling nevertheless.

==x==

Emm297: REVIEW PLEASE! ARIGATO TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED BEFORE! THE NEXT CHAPTER DEALS WITH SAKURA AND ICHIGO AS WELL AS THE INTRO OF RUKIA!

Next we have plushies to hand out! (**hugs a Hitsugaya plushie and squeals in delight**)Review please!


	4. The Hollow Encounter

Emm297: (HANDS OUT PLUSHIES TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED) Arigato to all who reviewed since I started this story (HUGS HITSUGAYA PLUSHIE)! Sakura?  
Sakura: HAI! Emm-chan does not own Bleach or the kidou incantations, only me, my Zanpakutou and its moves. The story belongs to both Tite Kubo and Emm-chan as well!  
Emm297: What she said.

A/N: In chap 2, Hajimemashite means 'Nice to meet you' and 'Oyasumi Nasai' means goodnight. Just so u know.

==x==

Sakura was already in her uniform when Ichigo woke up. "Ohayo…" he yawned, as he stretched and got out of his bed. Sakura nodded and went over to the bathroom to look in the mirror.

She made sure her white ribbon was in place in her hair and then fished out the silver locket (that she was looking at the previous night) and put it around her neck. She looked at her reflection and smiled. The locket went perfectly with her cherry oak coloured hair and white ribbon. She then proceeded back to Ichigo's room so he could use the bathroom.

Picking up her purple backpack, she plodded down the stairs to the kitchen. "Sakura-san! Here, I made a lunch for you too!" Yuzu greeted. Surprised by this hospitality, Sakura took a moment to register it before giving a small smile and accepting the lunch box.

==x==

On her way to school with Ichigo, Sakura was introduced to a few friends and Ichigo also pointed out a few people on their way to school who were in their class. Namely people like Orihime, Tatuski, Ishida and this weird guy called Keigo.

"Toushime-san…" Orihime started, but was cut off by Sakura. "Call me Sakura," she said, with a wink. Smiling, Orihime nodded as she started asking Sakura about her favourite foods. Sakura smiled, Ichigo had told her that Orihime liked eating weird food combinations. After some time, they reached the school compound and took their places in the classroom.

The classroom was awfully noisy; everyone was talking at the same time. Sakura stared out the window and sighed, reminiscing about her times in Soul Society. She thought to herself, "I wonder how Hitsugaya-chan is doing…" Sighing once more, she started to turn to face the front when a black hole in the sky caught her eye. Out came 2 gigantic hollows and they started to growl. Instinctively, Sakura reached for the Soul Candy that she had gotten from Urahara that day. From the corner of her eye, she saw Orihime, Tatsuki, Ishida and Ichigo look out of the window as well. Sakura wondered whether they were able to sense the spiritual pressure that the hollow was giving out. "I can't let them see me in my Shinigami form," she told herself, as she politely excused herself from the classroom, with the excuse of going to the toilet.

Once out of sight, Sakura swallowed the pill and was separated from her gigai. After instructing her gigai to behave and act normally, she quickly ran towards the hollows, making sure to stay hidden from view of the classroom windows.

==x==

After a few minutes of searching, Sakura found the 2 hollows. They were crouching over 2 pluses, who looked like they were no more than 6 years old. Wasting no time, Sakura called out to the hollows. "Hey you big fat baboons! Pick on someone else will ya?" The hollows turned and Sakura quickly shunpo-ed to the 2 pluses and grabbed them and shunpo-ed back to her original position. "Grr… A shinigami eh?" One of the hollows growled. Sakura quickly made the 2 pluses stand behind her and faced the hollows again, smirking. "What you smirking for?" The other hollow asked. "You have no idea what you're in for." And with that, Sakura started the battle.

==x==

(Meanwhile, back in school)

"Sakura?" Ichigo waved his hand in front of his friend, who seemed to be staring into space. With a jolt, Sakura's gigai jumped up. "Nani?" she asked. "You've been staring into space for the whole day. Are you alright?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice. "I'm fine!" Sakura's gigai snapped, as she continued staring into space. Ichigo just shrugged and continued to do his homework.

"Something's not right… She was ok this morning, but ever since that weird force appeared… Sakura's been acting strange." Ichigo pondered. Stretching his arms in front of him, he sighed and mumbled "Girls," before returning to his books. Just as he was about to write down the equation for a particular math question, he felt a huge surge of power coming from the nearby park. Turning, he thought he saw a tiny explosion of sand, but blinked and by the time he opened his eyes, it was gone. "Must be imaging things…" he thought to himself.

==x==

Sakura was trying to dodge the attacks and protect the two pluses at the same time. But dodging and fending were two things that weren't supposed to be done together, and Sakura was having a hard time. "You're all talk only, aren't you, little Shinigami?" the first hollow said mockingly. Sakura was already out of breath. She had no idea not training herself for a few days would make her this stiff. The two hollows were obviously skilled ones. They had dodged all the attacks she had done using her katana.

Panting, Sakura decided to use her kidou spells to defeat the 2 hollows as she did not wish to use her Zanpakutou as the amount of reiatsu she would release would definitely attract more hollows. Putting the 2 pluses at a corner, she jumped up and looked down upon the two hollows.

"Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens. Way of destruction number 63, Twin Lotus Blue Fire Crash Down!" Two bolts of blue fire crashed down on the first hollow, who screamed as he disappeared. His companion looked up at Sakura, clearly frightened at the power of her attack. Sakura smirked as she recited another incantation.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Way of destruction number 63, Raikôhô!" A massive wave of yellow energy went soaring towards the hollow, who promptly disappeared into thin air as soon as the ball of energy hit him. Pleased with her accomplishment, she walked over to the 2 pluses, who were cowering in fear.

"Hey you two, come on! It's time to go to Soul Society."

"What… What's Soul Society?" One of the pluses asked.

"It's a place that all souls go to when they die. Come on, I'll send you there so more people like me can protect you from evil monsters ok?" Sakura patted their heads as she drew out her Zanpakutou and used it to lightly touch the two soul's foreheads. And with that, they were gone.

Smiling, Sakura sheathed her Zanpakutou. "The weather is so nice today… I wonder how Ichigo is doing…" And then it dawned on her. "Oh snap! School!" Sakura quickly shunpo-ed towards the school, cursing under her breath.

==x==

After merging back with her gigai, Sakura took a deep breath. Thankfully, no one saw her come into the school compound and merge back with her gigai. It was already lunch time and she spotted Ichigo behind a tree, with Keigo and Mizuiro. Waving at him, Sakura sped off towards the tree.

"Hey Ichigo!" Sakura called enthusiastically. Ichigo, surprised at Sakura's sudden change of attitude, took a moment before waving back.

After a while, Mizuiro and Keigo excused themselves, saying they had to ask meet the Sensei. After they left, Sakura and Ichigo started to talk about random stuff, mainly to get to know each other even better. After it seemed like they had no more questions to ask, Ichigo suddenly asked, "Sakura… what's with that necklace?" Sakura saw he was pointing at her locket and smiled.

"My friend gave it to me a long time ago."

"Oh. Your friend from…?"

"My old town and school. Wanna see the picture inside?"

Ichigo gave a 'Why-not' face and Sakura happily opened it. Ichigo stared at the picture. There was a white-haired boy and a woman who looked way older and had a big chest. He looked up at Sakura and tried to imagine her with such friends. Sakura laughed and told him, "That boy is called Hitsugaya and the woman Rangiku. They're my absolute best friends."Noticing that Sakura had that faraway look in her eyes again, Ichigo decided not to ask any more about the locket and just leave Sakura to her thoughts.

==x==

_Fast-forward to 2 and a half months later, at 11pm one day to be precise…_

Ichigo was already tired and was already sleeping like a pig. Sakura, on the other hand, was staring at her locket once more. She took out her photo-pen (check chap 2) and scrolled through the photos. There were pictures of her and Matsumoto, pictures of her and Hinamori (whom she knew too when she met Hitsugaya when they were in Rukongai), pictures of her and other random Shinigami like Ukitake-taicho and Yachiru-fukutaicho, and lastly, pictures of her and Hitsugaya. Looking at the picture brought back many memories for her and Sakura was soon lost in them. When she finally got out of her 'trance', Sakura put down her photo-pen and locket on the floor next to her and adjusted her futon. Just was she was about to put her head on the pillow…

==x==

Emm297: Oh, A CLIFFIE! Haha, even though I can't stand cliffhangers, I still want to use a few in my story! Oh and, although I didn't manage to fit Rukia in here yet, like I said so previously, I will most definitely try to fit her in the next chapter as the main storyline will start from there.

So, in the mean time, PLEASE REVIEW! The next hand-out will be Bleach character-shaped pillows! (HUGS A HITSUGAYA PILLOW) Please click the button! ARIGATO!


	5. Surprises

Emm297: Well, as promised, here are the pillows! (HANDS OUT PILLOWS TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED) Arigato to everyone who reviewed so far! Well, I'll try to fit Rukia in this chapter. Don't wanna drag the story too long! Sakura?  
Sakura: HAI! Emm-chan does not own Bleach or anything in the anime. She owns me, my Zanpakutou and its moves though.  
Emm297: Yup.

==x==

Just was she was about to put her head on the pillow, her Soul phone started beeping. Afraid that it might wake up Ichigo, Sakura quickly separated herself from her gigai and jumped out the window, holding the beeping Soul phone. She quickly received the call while in mid-air.

"Sakura?" Yamamoto sou-taicho's face appeared on the screen of the phone.

"Hai," she replied monotonously.

"We need you to go to the outskirts of Karakura Town to kill more hollows. You are to leave immediately tomorrow morning and only return after around a week." Yamamoto's voice boomed through the phone.

"A WEEK? Hai…" Sakura groaned, as the sou-taicho's face disappeared from view.

==x==

The next morning, Sakura made up an excuse that she had to attend to some business out of town. Ichigo, just shrugging, told her that he would tell the teacher for her and she left his house with her backpack.

She sighed again. "Lately, I've been doing a lot of sighing," she muttered, as she walked towards the outskirts of town. Just then, it started to rain. "Shimitta…" Sakura cursed, as she quickly took out her umbrella and sheltered herself.

==x==

_(FAST FORWARD) _

It was already late evening by the time Sakura had found a place to sleep. She had chanced upon a hole in a steep mountain-area which was able to fit her and her backpack. Sakura took out a cup of instant ramen that Yuzu had given her the morning as well as a hot water flask that she had packed. So far, she had already defeated more than 10 hollows and had worked up quite a huge appetite.

While she was eating, it started to pour again. Thanking her stars that she was in a shelter, Sakura ate her ramen as she watched the rain pour. She remembered the time when she was training at the training area she had found in the forest.

_(FLASHBACK)_

"_Argh… This isn't good enough! Come on… a little more…." Sakura told herself, as she watched one of her kidou spells speed towards a tree and miss it by a few inches, destroying another tree that she never meant to hit. She tried again, this time trying to skip the incantation once more. _

"_Way of destruction number 54, Abolishing Flames!" This time, the purple blast hit the tree, right on target. "YES!" Sakura smiled. Suddenly, she sensed a strong reiatsu hiding behind a tree. "Who's there," she called out. Hitsugaya came out of the shadows, clapping. "Good job Sakura," he said. _

"_What… WERE YOU SPYING ON ME?" she yelled, her arms crossed in front of her. _

"_Who knows?" _

"_Fine… Did you mean it?" Sakura's voice became soft once more._

"_Mean what?"_

"_That it was… you know… good," she replied, looking at the grass underneath her feet. Hearing no response, she looked up and saw Hitsugaya doing something weird. He smiled. _

"_Yeah, I did."_

_Surprised at his action, Sakura felt a small blush creep up to her cheeks. Looking at the grass once more, she smiled. "He actually smiled… for me…" she blushed again, before looking up. But he was nowhere to be seen. _

"_SAKURA!" she turned and saw him quite a distance away. "COME ON! I NEED TO MAKE SURE MATSUMOTO ISN'T SLAKING AGAIN!" he yelled. Laughing, she shunpo-ed to him and they walked out of the forest together._

(END FLASHBACK)

A loud clap of thunder 'woke' her up. Smiling as she ate another mouthful of ramen, she thought to herself, "At least I have many memories to last me for a lifetime…"

==x==

Pretty soon, the week was over and Sakura was walking back to Ichigo's house as it was a weekend. She said a brief "Hi" to Ichigo's sisters and went up to his room. When she opened the door, she found Ichigo sitting on his bed.

"Hey, Sakura! You're back!" Ichigo said. Sakura smiled and nodded as she placed her bag on the floor. Somehow things didn't feel the same… Ichigo felt like he was emitting some sort of reiatsu. Mentally knocking herself, Sakura took a look around. "His spirit pressure probably doesn't mean anything…" she thought to herself. "Oh yeah, Ichigo." Ichigo turned to face her and she continued. "I managed to find a small apartment near the school so…. I'll be moving out." Ichigo's eyes widened. "You have money?" Sakura nodded. She had stopped by Urahara's before coming back here and he had managed to spare some money.

"Well then… I guess I'll be going! See you at school!" Sakura smiled, as she picked up her belongings once more and left Ichigo's room.

After another minute or two, she left his house and walked to the apartment. This place was much more spacious and wasn't as broken down as the other one. After all, she paid 120 bucks for it. Smiling as she entered the room, she lay down on her new bed and fell asleep soon after.

==x==

_(FAST FORWARD TO 8PM)_

Sakura awoke with a start. She felt a sudden strong reiatsu coming from a street not far away. She quickly swallowed a pill and shunpo-ed as fast as she could, as the reiatsu was slowly disappearing. "I must have slept so well I couldn't feel the reiatsu…" she mumbled. Upon arriving at the area, she looked around. Nothing was there. Sighing to herself, she walked back to her 'house'.

At her room, she merged back into her gigai and was just about to sleep again when her window started rattling. Shocked, she took a step towards it and surprise surprise, she found Urahara there.

"Sakura-chan! Could you come over to my place in the morning tomorrow, say 11? I need you to train some Ryoka that plan to invade Soul Society. Besides, it's a weekend…" he pleaded, once Sakura opened the window.

"NANI? INVADE SOUL SOCIETY? ARE THEY CRAZY?" Sakura blurted out.

"Yes, apparently they are, but who am I to stop them? Their friend got kidnapped and they want to go save her. So… will you help?"

Seeing the look on Sakura's face, Urahara added, "Soul Society will know nothing about your guidance, I promise."

Sakura shrugged. "Why not?" she said nonchalantly.

"Splendid! See you tomorrow then!" And with that, Urahara was off, leaving a very puzzled looking Sakura behind.

"Ryoka eh? I wonder who they are…" she said to herself, as she closed the window once more.

==x==

The next morning, Sakura made her way to Urahara's shop. "I wonder who those Ryoka are…" she thought to herself. "And are they mad or something? Who would try to invade Soul Society?" Kasumi told her in her mind. Dismissing those thoughts with a wave of her hand, she realized that she had already reached Urahara's.

"Hey, Urahara-san! Where are you?" She called out when she stepped inside the shop.

"Down here!" came a voice, as Sakura swallowed a Soul Candy and was separated from her Gigai.

==x==

Meanwhile at the basement, Urahara was briefing the Ryoka on their 'training session'.

"I have asked a good Shinigami friend of mine to help train all of you. She's a 3rd seat Shinigami, which means she is the 3rd strongest in her squad. "

"Wait, a girl?" one of the Ryoka with orange hair asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not gonna fight a girl, it'll be mean."

"Kurosaki, just because you're too chicken to fight a girl doesn't mean the rest of us are…" The Ryoka called Ishida said, as he pushed his glasses up his nose a little more. The Ryoka called Sado also nodded briefly, while the last Ryoka with orange hair called Orihime just laughed.

"I AM NOT CHICKEN!" Ichigo bellowed.

"Well, then, I believe she's here. Prove it," Urahara said, as he yelled out, "Down here!"

==x==

"Well, although she's the 3rd strongest in her squad, I believe that she has the capability to become a captain soon, since she's almost achieved her Bankai, which is the ultimate release for a Zanpakutou…" Urahara started, but was cut short by a very familiar voice.

"Urahara-san, I'm not that good…" The newly-arrived Shinigami walked into the training grounds and looked up.

She froze in shock, as the four Ryoka stared at her, stunned as well.

"WHAT?" All five of them shouted.

==x==

Emm297: Well there you go! I managed to fit Rukia inside somehow. Haha… Just to clarify, this is not an Ichigo X OC fanfic. It's still a HitsuXOC fic!

Well, next up we'll see how the training sessions as well as how the gang deals with Sakura being a Shinigami. **Sakura's Shikai** will most likely to introduced in the next chapter too so stay tuned! HAHA…

Next, we have muffins to those who review! Yippeee!


	6. Training I

Emm297: ARIGATO ONCE MORE TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! (Hands out muffins) Now, let's get this story going!  
Sakura: Emm-chan does not own Bleach or any of its characters except her OC, which is me, my Zanpakutou and its moves!  
Emm297: HAI!

==x==

"WHAT?" All five of them shouted.

"Well, it seems like all of you know each other…" Urahara added with his signature goofy smile.

"You know Urahara-san, if you told me THEY were the Ryoka, I wouldn't have come," said Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, I had no idea you were a Shinigami… You didn't even emit any reiatsu…" Orihime stated.

"Well, Sakura-chan is pretty good at hiding her reiatsu, at least better than Kurosaki." Ishida added mockingly, which caused Ichigo to send a death-glare at him.

"Since we're here to fight and you guys know who I really am… let's get started." Sakura said, as she cracked her knuckles.

"Wait, Sakura-chan. How about you introduce yourself to them first, THEN we'll start training."Said Urahara.

"Fine."

==x==

"Well, as you guys should know, Soul Society has 13 squads. I'm the 3rd seat of the 10th squad, which means I'm the 3rd strongest in my squad. I came from Soul Society on the Captain-commander's orders to be stationed here to kill hollows. Well, I guess that's all." Sakura shrugged. "Now, can we get this over with?" she asked, looking at the amused faces of her four friends.

"Thank you Sakura-chan! Now, Sado-san and Inoue-san, perhaps you would like to start the training session?" Urahara called out to them. With a brief nod, they stood up and walked over to the area where Sakura was standing.

"You may begin anytime," Urahara said.

"I'm not going to go easy on you two," Sakura told her two friends seriously.

And the battle began.

==x==

After a few minutes, Sakura emerged as the winner, easily defeating Orihime and Sado.

"…" Ichigo and Ishida were speechless and staring wide-eyed at Sakura. "WOW," they muttered.

"Ishida, your turn." Ichigo said, as he shoved the Quincy towards Sakura.

"I'm warning you, I'm just getting started." Sakura told the Quincy with a smirk.

And the battle began.

==x==

It was only a minute into the battle. Ishida had begun firing his arrows at Sakura, who dodged easily, on account of her being able to use shunpo. "Is that all you've got?" Sakura taunted. Ishida was already panting. He hadn't been able to even mark a scratch on the brown-haired Shinigami.

Raising his bow once more, Ishida fired several more arrows in a straight line. Sakura managed to dodge all of them again, by means of shunpo. She blinked and before she knew it, she saw another arrow headed right for her. Jumping to one side, the arrow missed her by just an inch. "Phew, " she thought, before Kasumi's voice sounded in her head again.

"Come on, use me already!"

"No I won't, at least not yet. I'll save the best for the last," Sakura retorted, narrowly missing another arrow. Either Ishida's aim had suddenly gotten a whole lot better, or Sakura was starting to relax a little too much. She kicked Kasumi out of her head as she tried to think of a good plan.

After dodging another several arrows, an idea formed in her mind. Smiling, she stopped in front of a huge rock and stopped dodging Ishida's arrows. Ishida took this as a sign of surrender. "Sakura-san, you're giving up already?" he yelled as he fired another arrow straight at her.

The arrow flew quickly towards Sakura and then… all that could be seen was smoke as the rock behind Sakura exploded.

Ishida looked at the smoke before him and smiled. Although that arrow wasn't fatal, Sakura would probably be knocked unconscious already. Just then, he heard a voice behind him.

"Far from it," Sakura appeared somewhere behind him and as he turned around, she yelled, "Way of destruction number 63, Twin lotus blue fire crash down!" And then, Ishida was rammed into a rock far away.

Then, Sakura shunpo-ed towards Ishida and placed him over her shoulder and shunpo-ed back to Orihime. "Orihime-chan, take care of Ishida will ya?" Orihime nodded and used her Shun Shun Rika to slowly heal Ishida's wounds.

"Well then, Kurosaki-san, it is your turn now." Urahara said, smiling.

Ichigo stood up and took a deep breath before cracking his knuckles and walking over to Sakura.

Winking, Sakura told him, "I'm not going to hold back, Ichigo."

Grabbing his Zanpakutou and putting it in front of him, he said, "I never expected you to."

And the battle began.

==x==

Ichigo (A/N: Ichigo has learnt his Zanpakutou's name by now) had been swinging his Zanpakutou at Sakura for the past minute, but all Sakura did was dodge, like she did with Ishida. He was afraid he couldn't keep up with her.

Sensing this, Sakura called out to him. "Ichigo! I'm right here!" Waving her hand, she tried to make him come closer to her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kasumi's voice came 'on' again. "Hey, I finally decide to use you and you're complaining?" Sakura retorted (in her mind). "Aww… you're gonna use me? Finally." And with that, Kasumi's voice faded again.

Looking back in front of her, Sakura noticed that Ichigo was speeding towards her. Sighing and muttering a "finally", Sakura put her hand on her sword that hung behind her back (A/N: Like Hitsugaya).

"CLANG!" The two swords met as Sakura took out her sword from its scabbard and used it to block Ichigo's.

"Don't hold back, ok?" Sakura whispered as she gave Ichigo yet another wink and pushed him away from her using her sword and her strength. Immediately, Ichigo got up and charged towards Sakura, holding his Zanpakutou with his two hands. His sword met hers once more and he smiled. "Sure, I won't." he said.

"Watch out Ichigo, from now on it gets interesting," Sakura said matter-of-factly as she jumped back, making sure there was distance between herself and Ichigo.

Making sure Ichigo was far enough and she was in everyone's sight, Sakura raised her sword in front of her. "Koori ga hatte imasu, Kasumi!" she shouted. There was a ray of blue light as two navy blue ribbons appeared on the cross-guard (A/N: Look it up if u don't know), the blade turned an icy blue and the hilt turned into a blue crystal. Then, a large blue crystal dragon appeared beside Sakura and Sakura pointed her sword at Ichigo and said, "Go, Kasumi."

==x==

Emm297: Well, here's chap 6. I know it's kinda short compared to the other chapters, but I wanna continue the next section in another chapter! So please continue to read and check for updates k? ARIGATO!

Next, I was thinking of doing a Sakura Hitsugaya childhood memory thing. Since we don't see much of Hitsugaya here anymore. Either that, or I will continue with this section of the story and Ichigo and co. will be whisked away to SS! (The former is more likely though cause I miss Hitsugaya already…) So stay tuned!

Chocolate cookies will be handed out next so please review!


	7. Training II

Emm297: Well… here's chapter 7! (HANDS OUT COOKIES TO THOSE WHO REVIWED) Sorry I took so long to upload. had a technical glitch; couldn't log in to upload so yah… ANYWAY, HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE CHAP 7! THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! (Sakura-chan and Kasumi-san say THANKS too!)

And, just so you know, like I said, I was thinking of doing a flashback right? Well, it won't be for this chapter. It will be during a later chap. So I shall continue the story now!  
Sakura: Emm-chan does not own Bleach. She does, however own me, my Zanpakutou and its moves!  
Emm297: (NODS HEAD) Oh and by the way, _**"Koori ga hatte imasu" means "cover with ice". And "Urusai" means shut up. Just so you know! XD**_

==x==

Then, a large blue crystal dragon appeared beside Sakura and Sakura pointed her sword at Ichigo and said, "Go, Kasumi."

The blue dragon looked straight at Ichigo and charged. As he was busy staring at Sakura's Shikai, Ichigo just barely dodged the huge dragon. Turning back, the dragon returned to Sakura's side.

"This is Kasumi, my Zanpakutou." Sakura said, as she pointed her sword at Ichigo once more and Kasumi went soaring towards the orange-haired Shinigami representative. When Kasumi was near Ichigo, it opened its mouth and released jets of water at Ichigo, who instinctively used Zangetsu to block. Ichigo was pushed back several feet because of the impact. When he removed his Zanpakutou from the front of his face, he saw another few jets of water flying at him. Once more, he used his Zanpakutou to block and held it steady. This time, the water just bounced off his sword and landed on the floor.

Putting down Zangetsu, Ichigo smirked. Perhaps Sakura wasn't that strong after all…

"Hey Sakura, is that all you've got?" Ichigo yelled out to his friend. He looked straight at her and saw that she was brushing her fringe to one corner before she looked up.

"Well, since I have to make you learn that you're just not ready for Soul Society, I guess I will just have to do this…" Sakura said sternly, in a tone that Ichigo had never heard her use before. Her usual bubbly happy face was replaced by that of seriousness.

Sakura sighed. She didn't want to resort to use this, but it looked as though she had to. Holding her sword with both hands, she placed it horizontally in front of her. "Niji Yuki (rainbow snow)!" she yelled, as Kasumi flew on top of her. Kasumi flew towards Ichigo, who was still staring at Sakura. Kasumi opened its mouth and rainbow coloured snow went flying towards Ichigo's feet. Ichigo tried to move away, but the snow managed to touch his feet before he had a chance to. Upon coming into contact with his feet, the snow sort of melted and in the blink of an eye, Ichigo's feet were frozen to the ground.

"Shimatta!" Ichigo cursed as he tried desperately to free himself. Using his Zanpakutou, Ichigo tried knocking the ice off his feet, but the ice was too hard for him to break it.

"You see Ichigo? If you can't even defeat me, you're bound to die in Soul Society!" Sakura told him, as she sheathed her sword. Putting her hands in front of her, Sakura started a kidou spell (without the incantation). "Way of destruction number 31, Shot of red fire!" A ball of red energy went flying towards Ichigo and hit him square on the chest. Ichigo flew backwards because of the impact and hit the wall nearest to where Orihime, Ishida, Sado (Chad) and Urahara were standing.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime shouted, completely shocked.

"It's alright, Orihime-chan. Ichigo won't die from that. I didn't use the full extent of my powers, so he should still be alright…" Sakura had already shunpo-ed towards them and was starting to walk towards Ichigo.

Sakura knelt down beside him and noticed that he was unconscious. Sighing, she picked me up and slung him over her shoulder. "My, my, Sakura-chan. For someone as short as yourself, you really are strong," Urahara said, smiling.

"Urusai…" Sakura snapped, as she walked over to the benches and threw Ichigo down onto them. "Orihime-chan, take care of him…" Sakura said, as she walked to the far end of the training grounds.

"I wonder what's wrong with Sakura-chan…" Orihime questioned, as she looked at Sakura, who was starting to go behind a huge rock, away from everyone's view.

"She's gonna be fine." Everyone turned to look at Urahara, who was leaning against the wall and staring at Sakura as well.

==x==

"Dammit!" Sakura muttered, as she banged her fist onto the rock before her. "I told myself I wouldn't be like this…" she thought aloud. Wiping the tears that started falling from her face, she started to smile. "Looks like I really do miss him after all…"

_Flashback_

"_Argh…" Sakura was holding her Zanpakutou and swinging it before her. "Dammit, I can't even do a simple thing like this right!" she mumbled. She was trying to perfect one of her Zanpakutou's moves, Niji Yuki. And she was failing miserably. Instead of rainbow coloured snowflakes that froze everything it touched, all that she could see were little bubbles of water spurting out of Kasumi's mouth, which immediately popped once they were released. Sighing, she decided to take a break. _

"_How the heck am I supposed to improve my skills if I can't even get such a simple thing right?" she said, as she opened a bottle of water and gulped down a few mouthfuls._

"_Looks like you need help, eh?" Sakura looked up and saw Hitsugaya standing in front of her._

"_When did you get here?" Sakura asked._

"_Soon enough, to see you fail at your attempt to get your attacks right," he added._

"_Hey! That wasn't funny!" Sakura yelled in protest, but was cut off when Hitsugaya grabbed her hand. "Come on, I'll help you with that."_

_(LATER ON)_

"_Well, give it a shot then." Hitsugaya instructed, stepping away from Sakura, who nodded briefly before she shouted, "Niji Yuki!"_

_Almost immediately, rainbow coloured snowflakes came out of Kasumi's mouth and landed on the grass before them. And guess what? The blades of grass froze._

"_Oh my gosh… Thank you, thank you Shiro-chan!" Sakura squealed in delight._

"_You're welcome." He said, as he turned to walk away._

"_Funny, he didn't correct me for calling him Shiro-chan…" Sakura thought to herself as she took a few steps back. But she slipped on the frozen grass and fell down with a loud "THUMP". _

"_OW!" Sakura yelled. Suddenly, she saw Hitsugaya kneeling down beside her. "Sakura, are you alright?" _

"_Yeah… I'm fine…" she said, blushing. "He actually came back here to see if I was alright…."she thought._

_Sakura tried to stand up, only to find out that her left leg had been scratched by a nearby twig on the ground and there was a deep gash there. "Dammit…" she muttered, as Hitsugaya stood up as well. "Yeah, you're alright." He said sarcastically. "And the spots of blood on the ground now came from the sky." He shook his head and proceeded to pick up Sakura's Zanpakutou. "Come on, I'll bring you back so Matsumoto can have a look at your leg." He then knelt down in front of Sakura._

"_Well, hurry up, get on!" He snapped. Blushing, Sakura hopped onto his back and he stood up. "Thank goodness you're not the size of Matsumoto, or I'll never be able to carry you back." He mumbled. Smiling to herself, Sakura thought, "Yeah, thank goodness."_

_And she really wished that she would stay this size._

_End flashback_

"I really wish he could be here with me…" Sakura said, before adding, "Especially so he could see me kick butt with that move." She let out a small giggle as she wiped the remaining tears from her face. "I can't believe I'm crying…" she sniffed. Taking in a deep breath, she started walking back towards the benches.

==x==

"Sakura-chan, are you ok…?" Orihime asked when Sakura had walked near enough.

"Hai, I'm fine. How's Ichigo?" Orihime nodded and pointed to the orange-haired Substitute Shinigami, who was already getting up.

"TOUSHIME! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!" Ichigo burst out. "You freeze my feet with that rainbow snowflake thing, fire a red ball at me and send me flying towards the wall?"

"Well now, Kurosaki-san. I don't see Ishida-san complaining, so I don't see why you should." Urahara said, as he walked towards the group. "Kurosaki-san, if you can't even land a scratch on Sakura, you will most definitely die in Soul Society."

"Fine, how do you propose I get stronger?" Ichigo asked with his arms folded in front of him.

"By training. Everyone is to meet everyday after school, at this very place to train." Urahara thought for a moment before adding, "That includes you Sakura-chan. I'll need your help to train them."

Sakura shrugged. She had so seen this coming. She began walking back towards the training area. Turning back to look at the group, she called out, "Hey, do you guys wanna train or not?"

==x==

It was already evening and Sakura had been training Ichigo and the others for a horribly long time.

"Urahara-san, can we have dinner yet? I'm starved!" She yelled as she blocked a move from both Ichigo and Ishida (she was fighting them both at the same time).

"Hai, I think Ururu and Tessai should be done by now. Come on, let's go upstairs." Urahara instructed politely. Ichigo and Ishida reluctantly left the training area. They wanted more training time. Especially Ichigo. Orihime and Sado followed soon after, leaving Sakura and Urahara down in the basement.

"That was really smart Sakura-chan. Saying you were hungry to get them out of the area." He said.

"I couldn't think of anything else, what was I supposed to say anyway? 'Hey guys, I'm gonna practice my Bankai now so please scram'?" Sakura said sarcastically.

Urahara smiled as he saw Sakura hold her sword in front of her once more. "Koori ga hatte imasu, Kasumi."

Kasumi came out from the tip of the blade and flew up to the ceiling.

"Bankai."

==x==

Emm297: Ok, I'm ending here! Keep reading and checking for updates! The next chapter will have Sakura's Bankai in it. And I might have Hitsugaya inside, since we haven't seen him much in the story!

REPLIES TO REVEIWS! (R2Rs)

Littleanjel: Yeah, I know its kinda sad, but that's what makes their relationship nicer! Anyway, Thanks, Hope you enjoy the future chapters too!

Anime0angel: Yeah I know, my friend pointed it out too, I changed the chapter a bit too! Thanks for telling me I'm doing great!

Miyuki11: Well, I don't plan on having sakura turning out to be an espada, but thanks anyway! XD

Jawile4534: Ok, I know there's not enough action. But I promise the next few chaps will have more of that! Keep reading!

Yorukirin: Yeah, BLUE is COOL. Haha, and thanks. I'll do my best to HURRY UP! Thanks for saying my story's interesting! (Sakura and Kasumi: (NODS HEAD)

Elena21: Yup, thanks! I will write asap and post the next chapter real fast everytime, so just be patient!

**To all people who reviewed, put my story as a favourite, and put me as one of your many favourite authors, THANKEW THANKEW THANKEW! Your kindness is much appreciated. XD Meanwhile, keep checking for updates and REVIEW! THANKS!**


	8. Departures

Emm297: THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! Sakura?  
Sakura: Hai! Emm-chan does not own Bleach, except for me and my Zanpakutou and its moves!  
Emm297: YUP!

==x==

"Bankai. Mangetsu Kasumi (full moon mist)."

The moment she said it, a ray of pale blue light erupted from the tip of her Zanpakutou and surrounded Sakura. Even Urahara had to put his hands in front of him to prevent the light from blinding him.

When the light cleared, Sakura's right hand was covered in ice and on her back was two wings made of ice. The area around her feet was covered with mist. Her Zanpakutou's blade was a deep clear blue, and the blue ribbons turned to white ones. Kasumi was also a whole lot huger and had a pair of wings as well.

"Sakura-chan, looks like your Bankai is going very well, eh?" Urahara said, stroking his chin.

"I guess, but I know that this is not the full extent of my Bankai." Sakura replied. "Well then, Urahara-san, I'll train for awhile before I go upstairs for dinner."

Nodding, Urahara left Sakura to her own training.

==x==

Once Urahara had gone off, Sakura heard Kasumi's voice inside her head.

"You do know that they don't really stand a chance in Soul Society, right?" Kasumi said.

"Right now they don't, but I assure you, they'll stand a chance at the end if these few weeks of training." Sakura replied (in her mind).

"If you say so…" was Kasumi's reply.

"Ok, come on, let's just concentrate on our training." Sakura instructed, as she stuck out her right arm in front of her.

"Shiro Fubuki (white blizzard)!" she shouted, as she made a sweeping motion in front of her. Wind came out of the blade as Kasumi opened its huge mouth. Snow came flying out of her mouth and was carried forward by the strong gust of wind. The blizzard hit a nearby rock and immediately, the rock turned to cold hard ice. Sakura then made another small sweeping motion with her sword and the rock shattered into many small pieces of ice.

Smiling at herself, Sakura gave a sword a flick and her Bankai disappeared. Taking in a deep breath, Sakura walked over to the steps and went upstairs to have dinner.

==x==

Time flew by very fast. In the morning, the group would go to school and once the bell rang, all 5 of them would run off to Urahara's.

In the twinkling of an eye, the school summer break had arrived. Keigo was busy asking everyone where they were headed for the holidays, and when Ichigo said that the 5 of them where going somewhere together, Keigo started to complain about being left out and stuff. This earned him a punch in the face.

When Sakura heard what Ichigo had told Keigo, she pulled him to a corner.

"Ichigo. I'm not going to Soul Society with you guys."

Ichigo's eyebrows went up. You could easily see that he was surprised at Sakura's statement. "Why?"

"Well…" Sakura started, only to be cut off by Ichigo.

"If you come with us, you could help us rescue Rukia!"

"Not that I don't want to help you guys, but I'm a Shinigami. Going there to invade Soul Society would mean I would be going against them. And besides, you guys are way better now. You'll be able to fend off all the captains and vice-captains hands down." She said, smiling at the last point.

"But if you came with us, you could help to fight the captains as well!" Ichigo protested.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but somehow, the words refused to come out. She didn't want to lose her place as a Shinigami. Even more, she didn't want to face a certain captain."Ichigo… I'm sorry, I just can't ok?"

Although Ichigo was quite mad at Sakura for choosing her 'job' over a friend, he knew how hard it must be to decide on just one. He took a look at Sakura. She had a hand on her arm and was looking out the window, staring into space. He breathed out and let out a small sigh. "Well… if you can't come, I guess I can't force you as well…"

Sakura brightened up immediately once he finished his sentence. "Arigato, Ichigo."

Ichigo just smiled, as Sakura turned around and walked towards her table to pick up her bag.

"Hey, you guys! Let's go!" she yelled out, and Ishida, Orihime, Chad and Ichigo nodded before following her out of the classroom.

==x==

The next day, the gang was all set to leave for Soul Society. Urahara was just getting ready to open the gate and Sakura was standing at the side, wishing everyone good luck. Yoruichi (she knew her) came in a cat form and Sakura wondered why, out of all animals, she decided to turn into a cat.

"Good luck everyone," Sakura said, as she shook hands with Ishida, Orihime and Chad.

They gave her a brief nod and turned to talk to each other. Sakura looked at Ichigo, who was also looking at her.

"Ichigo…" Sakura started. "Good luck in everything."

"Yeah… Thanks…" he replied, scratching the back of his head.

Just then, Urahara called out to all of them. "The gate's gonna open!" Everyone started rushing to where he was, just in time to see the gate open.

As the group waved and went into the gate, Sakura grabbed Ichigo's arm and gave him a tiny peck on the cheek and said, "Ichigo, don't you dare die there," before releasing his arm. Ichigo turned as red as an apple. "Yah… I'll try not to." Sakura smiled and pushed him into the gate. "Good luck!" Sakura yelled, as her friends disappeared from view and the gate closed and disappeared.

Sakura stared at the spot where the gate disappeared. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back, realizing that the hand belonged to Urahara. "They'll be alright. After all, both of us trained them didn't we?"

"Yeah… they'll be fine…" Sakura suppressed a laugh. Just then Kasumi's voice filled her mind. "They'll be fine? What are you saying? Even you know that if they were faced with someone like the captain-commander, they would die almost immediately…"

"You're not helping!" Sakura snapped at her Zanpakutou (in her mind of course) and Kasumi let out a sigh as her voice disappeared again. Sakura shook her head and proceeded to go up the stairs with Urahara.

==x==

For the next few weeks, Sakura spent her time training underneath Urahara's shop. Her training was going really well – her attacks were much more powerful than before.

One day, approximately close to a month after Ichigo left, Sakura was sitting at Urahara's shop, drinking tea to pass her break time. Urahara had gone out for a short while and left Tessai, Ururu and Jinta in the shop with her. Suddenly, Urahara came crashing into the shop and immediately gestured for Sakura to follow him to the underground training area.

Once there, Urahara faced Sakura. "Sakura-chan, Soul Society is in trouble. "

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. How could Soul Society be in trouble? Urahara then went on and told her what he knew.

"But Urahara-san, how do you know all this?"

"I just have a feeling. And, I have my ways." Urahara said, as he wrinkled his nose.

"Ok… if what you say is true… then I'm going back to Soul Society. It's my duty as a Shinigami to help when in times of crisis." Sakura said sternly as she fished for her Soul phone.

Sakura pressed a few keys on the device. She stared at the blank screen. "What's wrong Sakura?" Urahara asked, peeking over her shoulder. "Looks like no one is responding to my call," she answered., pressing in a few more keys.

"In that case, why don't you just go without telling anyone?"

"But… that would mean I would be defying Yamamoto's orders to stay here no matter what!" Sakura retorted.

"So, would you like to stay here and continue drinking tea or would you like to help Soul Society?" Urahara questioned.

"I guess you're right… looks like I'll just have to do it without telling anyone…" Sakura sighed and switched out of her gigai.

"Urahara-san, could you open the gate?" Sakura faced him and said.

Urahara nodded. But instead of heading to the underground training area, he walked over to the drawer nearby. Reaching into one of the many drawers, he pulled out a sandy coloured hooded cloak. He handed the cloak to Sakura. "If you don't want to be recognized as soon as you arrive, you better wear this cloak." Sakura took the cloak and smiled. "Arigato Urahara-san," she thanked. Urahara walked over to the staircase and Sakura quietly followed while trying to put the cloak on.

==x==

Urahara barely took a few minutes to open the gate. "Good luck Sakura. And, if you don't get caught or something, just come back as quickly and as quietly as possible. And be careful." Urahara said. "Hai, I will." Sakura smiled, as she put on the hood of the cloak and stepped into the gate.

==x==

Emm297: OK! That's chapter 8 for you! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Chapter 9 will start on what happened while she was in Soul Society! Note, the storyline is kind of following the whole Soul Society Arc. Yeah, the whole Rukia's execution thing. Review please! Arigato!

Giving out Bleach posters next! Haha! R&R!


	9. Touketsu Sakura

Emm297: (HANDS OUT POSTERS TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED) Thanks to everyone who reviewed ok? Chapter 9 is here! Wootz!  
Sakura: As usual, Emm-chan does not own Bleach! She owns me and my Zanpakutou and its moves!  
Emm297: Ahhuh! And, I'm sorry if the parts in the chap don't tally with the anime! Gomen Nasai!

AND NOTE THAT IN THE ANIME, HITSUGAYA IS SUPPOSED TO NOT SEE AIZEN'S DEPARTURE TO HUECO MUNDO, BUT IN MY STORY HE IS WELL ENOUGH TO DO SO. I DID IT INTENTIONALLY.

AND WHEN SAKURA IS IN BANKAI FORM, SHE STILL HAS HER SWORD WITH HER. AND THE ICE WINGS WILL ONLY FORM IF SAKURA WANTS THEM TO.

ALSO, JUST TO MAKE IT CLEAR, SAKURA AND RUKIA KNOW EACH OTHER, THOUGH THEY HAVENT OFFICIALLY MEANT IN MY STORY. THEY KNOW EACH OTHER FROM SOUL SOCIETY NOT SCHOOL (sakura was away when Rukia came and left [chap 5] ). AND SAKURA KNEW ICHIGO WAS GOING TO RESCUE HER. Arigato.

==x==

Sakura smiled, as she put on the hood of the cloak and stepped into the gate.

She closed her eyes, preparing to embrace the sunshine that Soul Society provided everyday. But when she opened her eyes, instead of seeing the bright rays of sunlight, she was greeted by a cold gust of wind and many dark storm clouds. "What is going on here…?" Sakura wondered, stepping out of the gate.

Just then, she saw a huge thunder cloud looming on top of the highest area (where the Sokyoku was) of Seireitei. Not wasting any time, Sakura made sure the cloak's hood was on tight before running towards the hill.

==x==

Meanwhile…

"Matsumoto, let's go!" A very anxious Hitsugaya called out to his fukutaicho. They had just discovered Aizen's plan to steal the Orb of distortion for his own needs. Aizen had impaled Hinamori with his sword and was in a critical state as well. But thankfully, Unohana and Isane had been there too, thus he could leave with Matsumoto. Cursing under his breath, Hitsugaya started to run towards the area where Aizen was, with Matsumoto at his side. "Aizen…" he muttered.

==x==

_(Back with sakura)_

Sakura shunpo-ed past the many alleys of Seireitei, before spotting two of her fellow division members. Hiding behind a wall, she eavesdropped on what they were saying.

"Have you heard? Everyone is panicking because Aizen-taicho, Ichimaru-taicho and Tousen-taicho are supposed to be evil!" the first guy said.

"Yeah I heard… seems like he wants some Orb of Distortion thing…" the second guy replied.

Sakura gasped. "So Urahara-san was right after all…" she said, before she quickly carried on moving towards the Sokyoku.

After running for some time, Sakura saw the Sokyoku up close. Turning around a corner, she found herself alongside Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, who were apparently also trying to get to the Sokyoku area. Knowing that she could not afford anyone to recognize her, Sakura sped up, making sure all Hitsugaya and Matsumoto could actually see was a blur.

==x==

_(Same scene, with Hitsugaya and Matsumoto)_

Hitsugaya and Matsumoto had been running towards the Sokyoku, the place where they could feel Aizen's reiatsu. As they turned a corner, they saw someone in a cloak and hood beside them, also running towards the Sokyoku. The person's face turned towards them but they couldn't see the face underneath as the mystery person sped off as soon as he looked at them.

"Taicho… who was that?" Matsumoto said, apparently awed by the speed at which the person moved.

"I have no idea…" Hitsugaya replied, trying to feel for the person's reiatsu, but failed at the attempt to do so. "Looks like he or she is skilled in hiding reiatsu." He said, before adding, "Matsumoto, let's hurry up as well." After receiving a nod from his fukutaicho, the two increased their shunpo speed and raced off towards the Sokyoku.

==x==

Sakura heaved a sigh of relief. Matsumoto and Hitsugaya didn't seem to see her face beneath the hood. "That's good…" she mumbled, as she arrived at the Sokyoku. Standing behind a tree, she looked to her front and gasped. Aizen had already taken out the Orb of distortion (Hougyoku) from Rukia's body. Byakuya-taicho was lying on the ground with blood everywhere. Ichigo was lying on the ground too, with many wounds inflicted on him. Komamura-taicho had wounds as well and was also lying on the ground. "Is it like a fashion for guys to lie down on the ground now…" Sakura wondered, as she scanned the area once more. Everyone was saying something, but Sakura couldn't quite register what they were saying. All of a sudden, Aizen had a sword had his throat, held there by Soi Fong taicho, with Yoruichi (in human form) with her. Sakura blinked and found Matsumoto holding her sword to Ichimaru's throat, and Hisagi holding his sword to Tousen's throat. Her eyes searched for Hitsugaya and she spotted him at the corner, heavily wounded (From his confrontation with Aizen earlier) as well. "Hitsugaya-chan…" Sakura whispered, as she continued staring at him, not daring to believe that she finally had the chance to see him after 3 months. Smiling to herself, she turned her head to face Aizen, who seemed to be smiling and saying a whole lot of crap to Yoruichi.

Suddenly, a bright yellowish light came down upon the 3 traitors of Soul Society. In the sky, a Garganta (how the hollow move to and from Hueco Mundo.) appeared and showed the faces of many Gillian, the lowest class of Menos Grande. Many Shinigami were shocked at the amount of Gillian there were. Then, Sakura heard Yamamoto talking about the Negacion, which was the light which enveloped the 3 captains. Sakura knew that there was no touching Aizen or the others now that they had been enveloped by the light - they had taught that in the Shinigami Academy once and Sakura had made it a point to remember it.

Everyone was looking up at Aizen, who, at this point, was removing his spectacles and combing his hair down. Sakura had to admit it; he looked kind of cool. Aizen was saying something to the Shinigami below, but again, Sakura couldn't hear it clearly. Then, Aizen stretched his hand out and gave his 2nd finger a little flick. Everything happened very fast.

The hole where the Negacion slowly closed but twenty something Gillian came swooping down from the closing hole. And every single one of them was headed straight for Rukia.

Sakura didn't need someone to tell her to release her Bankai.

==x==

Rukia's eyes were wide with shock. 20 plus Gillian were after her. She wanted to stand up and run away, but her body was frozen in fear and refused to budge. No one, unless a captain-class Shinigami, would stand a chance against this many Gillian and Rukia knew that all the captains near her were either too tired or severely injured to help her fight off this many Menos Grande. She breathed in and closed her eyes tight, waiting for her to be killed or injured by the Gillian ambush. But nothing came.

Opening her eyes very slowly, she saw a hooded figure in front of her, with a Zanpakutou raised in front of the figure. A strong gust of wind blew through and the cloak fell right off, revealing a brown haired ponytailed girl in a Shinigami outfit, only it was pale blue instead of black. The Shinigami turned her head to face Rukia.

"Rukia, looks like you still need looking after all." Sakura smirked, before turning back to face the hollows.

"Baka," Sakura muttered, loud enough so that only she and Rukia could hear. "These Gillian are really starting to be a pain in the neck." She said, before yelling out, "Mangetsu Kasumi!"

Sakura's sword glowed a pale blue and Kasumi emerged from the tip. Sakura raised her sword 90 degrees in front of her before flicking it so it was horizontal. "Touketsu Sakura (ice-like Sakura)."

Immediately, shards of ice flew out from the blade of the sword and hit all of the Gillian. Upon contact with the hollows, the ice shards turned vines and wrapped themselves around the Gillian tightly, giving off some sort of pink light and immobilizing all the Gillian. Once all the Gillian had been wrapped by the vines, Sakura jumped up and used her sword to lightly touch one of the vines on a random Gillian.

In the blink of an eye, Sakura flowers started to bloom from the vines and gave out a pink coloured electric wave looking thing, which quickly sapped all the life and power out of the Gillian. Landing on the ground in front of Rukia once more, Sakura gave her sword a flick and all the Gillian disintegrated into pink and blue sparkles.

Maintaining a straight and serious face, Sakura sheathed her sword and her Bankai disappeared and her Shinigami robes turned black once more. She looked up and saw many Shinigami staring at her with a shocked and awed expression plastered onto their faces. Confused, she asked Rukia(who had the exact same expression on her face as well), "Rukia, why is everyone staring at me…?" Rukia, never taking that expression off her face, replied in a rather high pitched voice, "You just saved me from twenty or so Gillian! Something that only a captain should be able to do! So how can we not stare?" Sakura looked at Rukia, and then to all the other people who were staring at her, including Orihime, Ishida, Chad and Ichigo. And that's when it dawned upon her. Her cloak was off.

"Damn… I'm in deep shit now…." Sakura thought, before kneeling beside Rukia to help her friend up.

She had met Rukia one day somewhere near the 4th division quarters. Rukia had been there to give something to Isane fukutaicho and Sakura had been there to give some papers to Unohana taicho. They had bumped into each other, literally, and pretty soon were helping each other gather their stuff.

_(Flashback)_

"_Arigato, for helping me! I'm Toushime Sakura of the 10__th__ squad, hajimemashite!" Sakura introduced herself, as she smiled at the raven-haired girl._

"_Hai, I'm Kuchiki Rukia of the 13__th__ squad, nice to meet you as well…" The girl supposedly called Rukia replied. _

"_Ano… are you delivering those to the 4__th__ squad?" Sakura questioned, pointing at the things Rukia was holding. _

_Rukia nodded briefly before saying, "Hai, I'm giving these to Isane fukutaicho."_

"_Wanna go together? I'm delivering these papers to Unohana taicho." _

"_Sure, why not?"_

_(End flashback)_

That had been the start of the two girls' friendship. After making their deliveries, they had sat on a branch of a tree near the training grounds. They spent over an hour talking there, before both of them decided it would probably be time to head back to their respective squads.

"Sakura?" Rukia's voice brought Sakura out of her thoughts. "Hai," she replied, grabbing Rukia's hand and placing it over her shoulder. As soon as the violet-eyed girl shad regained her balance, Sakura smiled and walked over to the captain-commander.

"Yamamoto sou-taicho, I apologize for leaving my post at the real world, but…" Sakura started to blabber, but was interrupted by the old guy. "Never mind that. For now, you shall stay here in Soul Society for further instructions. You are not to go back to the real world." Yamamoto then turned around and walked off.

Dazed, Sakura stood rooted to that particular spot. "Shimitta… I am so going to pay for what I did…" she thought, mentally smacking herself on her head. "It's not totally your fault you know." Kasumi's voice told her inside her mind.

"But I was the one who came here in the first place!"

"Yeah, but he couldn't expect a Shinigami to stand by the sidelines and not help her land when they needed her, now could he?"

"Of course he can! He's the captain-commander for crying out loud!" Sakura retorted in her mind. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better Kasumi, but now I just want to think by myself." Kasumi, being the patient and caring dragon spirit that she was, shut up immediately and her voice slowly faded until Sakura couldn't hear the dragon anymore.

Letting out a huge sigh, Sakura looked at the horizon. The sun was already setting and the sky was an explosion of salmon pink. She was about to walk away when she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Sakura-chan!" an all-too-familiar voice said.

Smiling, Sakura turned around. "Hai, Rangiku-san!"

The big busty woman proceeded to suffocate the brown haired Shinigami by giving her a huge squeeze pulling her in between her large breasts. "Rangiku-san, can't breathe…" Sakura muttered, before Matsumoto finally let her go. "Sakura-chan! When did you learn to fight like that? And when did you come back? I didn't feel your reiatsu anywhere until you rescued Rukia just now."

"Well…" Sakura then told her about her training in the real world and about what Urahara had said that made her return here. "And, the person that you guys saw in the cloak running alongside you for a moment was me."

"Nani? Sakura-chan! You can shunpo that fast? And you're really that good at hiding reiatsu? Wow, you must have been training hard…" Matsumoto said, impressed.

Sakura smiled. At least she could be here with her friends for the time being. It was a good break from all that training back in the real world. Matsumoto ruffled Sakura's hair before she turned and walked off.

"Rangiku-san…" Sakura said. She knew her friend was hurting inside, even if it did not seem like it. I mean, who wouldn't, when one of your best friends just turned out to be a huge traitor?

Shaking her head lightly, Sakura looked around. Everyone was helping one another with stuff. The 4th squad was especially busy trying to heal everyone. Renji, Hitsugaya and Byakuya taicho were getting healed by the 4th squad members and the newly arrived Unohana taicho respectively. Ichigo was being healed by Orihime, while Ishida and Chad watched. Komamura taicho was being stubborn; he did not want to be healed. A small smile crept up Sakura's lips. It was nice to see everyone again, after so long.

Sakura walked towards Ichigo, and knelt down beside him. "Hey, nice to see you got beat up so badly again." Sakura said.

"It's not funny." Ichigo retorted, as Ishida cut in. "Sakura-san, that was pretty impressive, how you handled those Menos." "Nani? It was nothing…" Sakura blushed, dismissing what the Quincy had said about her fighting skills. "Well then, I'll be off. I should get ready for my doom's day now." Sakura announced, before continuing. "The old guy would probably kill me for disobeying orders; I wasn't supposed to come here at all." This resulted in an outburst of "Not fair!"s and "He can't do that!"s. Sakura shrugged and was about to say something when they heard Byakuya start to talk to Rukia.

==x==

After a few minutes, in which Sakura had learnt that Rukia was actually Byakuya's sister-in-law, Sakura gave a small smile to her group of friends. "Ja, I guess I'll see you guys later." She said, before adding, "Orihime-chan, take care of Ichigo will ya?" Orihime nodded and Sakura stood up and started to walk away from the site.

==x==

Never once looking back, Sakura walked away from the Sokyoku area. The sky, by now, had already turned a dark orange and the full moon was visible to all. Sakura stopped abruptly and looked up at the sky. "To think this is exactly the same type of sky I see in the real world…" She sighed, before looking straight ahead again.

Just as she was about to start walking once more, she heard someone say her name, loud enough so that only she could hear.

==x==

Emm297: And that brings us to the end of chapter 9! Wow, this is the SUPER LONGEST chapter ever so far in OUSF. 2493 words for the content of the story! You guys better appreciate it! Haha, just kidding. Anyway, please review! Sakura, Kasumi and I would really appreciate it! ARIGATO!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far! You make me feel SPECIAL! Haha! XD

Meanwhile, go to my profile page and scroll down! There's a short profile of Sakura that I wrote as a story. Go see go see! Haha. I was thinking of posting 10 together with 11, since 10 would be kinda shirt and stuff, so I'll do a double posting. So, be patient for chappie 10 k? It might come out with 11. Well then, see you in chapter 10 again! Ja!


	10. Confrontations

_Emm297_: Well then people! Here's chappie 10! Wootz! I finally reached double digit!  
_Sakura_: Emm-chan does not own Bleach! If she did, she wouldn't be able to create such an awesome character like Shiro-chan anyway! (Blushes) And, she wouldn't have been able to make this story!  
_Emm297_: What she said. And I take back what I said about the whole double chapter posting thing. Looks like I won't be doing that after all. This chapter turned out good so I'm just gonna post it first! Isn't that great?

==x==

Just as she was about to start walking once more, she heard someone say her name, loud enough so that only she could hear.

"Sakura."

Sakura spun around and came face to face with the person she most wanted to see, Hitsugaya. "Hitsugaya-chan!" Sakura beamed. "How's it going?" she asked. But her friend did not respond, instead, he looked at her straight in the face. Sakura cocked her head to one side, wondering what was wrong with the silver-haired guy. All of a sudden, she found herself being dragged off by the arm.

"Nani Hitsugaya-chan! What the heck are you doing?" Sakura yelled, struggling to break free of his grasp. He did not respond despite her incessant protests and after a while, Sakura grew tired of screaming and finally shut her mouth up.

Suddenly he let go of her arm and Sakura landed with a bump on the ground. Actually it wasn't really a ground; it was more of a roof of a building. "Hitsugaya-chan, just what did you think you were doing?" Sakura began to yell, rubbing her back with her right arm. This proved to be quite a hassle as her Zanpakutou kept getting in the way, but whatever.

Hitsugaya turned to face her and said in a clear strong voice. "What did you think you were doing, you baka?"

"Hey, what did I do this time?" Sakura replied, clearly annoyed by the welcome he was giving her.

"Well let's see, you come back to Soul Society without telling me, you run away when you see me and Matsumoto and well, YOU THROW YOURSELF IN FRONT OF TWENTY GILLIAN!" He said, emphasizing on the last eight words.

"Actually it's twenty seven Gillian, I counted…" Sakura pointed out, before he cut her off once more.

"Do you actually think I care about that? What were you thinking, trying to be the hero?" he interrupted.

"Hey, it's not my fault that all of you captains were injured or stuff! If you guys were in better conditions in the first place, I wouldn't have to play the hero now would I?" Sakura protested, with her arms folded in front of her.

"Don't you go pinning the blame on me now!" he retorted, his arms also folded in front of him.

"Fine! I'm sorry ok? What has it got to do with you even if I injure myself?" Sakura rolled her eyes as she sat down, with her feet dangling at the edge of the roof.

"Well, I'm… I'm your captain!" Hitsugaya said, turning away. But Sakura was too fast; she saw the captain's face turning a crimson red before he actually turned away. "He's blushing…" Sakura thought. Turning her head to face the front, she noticed him sitting down beside her as well.

After a minute of awkward silence, Sakura finally piped up. "So, what happened to your injuries?"

Hitsugaya looked puzzled. "Injuries? What injuries?" He asked innocently, before it dawned upon him. "Oh, those injuries...Some 4th squad person helped heal them." He replied. Shaking her head, Sakura turned to face the front once more. The sky was now an explosion of orange, red and dark blue, and the sun could barely be seen in the distance. Another minute of silence passed before one of them took the initiative to start a new topic to talk on. This time, it was Hitsugaya.

"So… what happened in the real world?"

At this, Sakura brightened. "Oh boy, I can't wait to tell you all about it!" she said excitedly. "I learnt about high school, cars, nicely-wrapped onigiri, family clinics, soccer, vending machines… the list is never ending!" she squealed with enthusiasm. She then proceeded to talk about what happened in the real world, including the part about the decaying room, (minus the part about crying and missing him and Matsumoto) and ended her chatter about what happened with how she ended up in Soul Society. "Yeah, that's basically it…" she concluded, looking straight ahead once more.

"I see…" Hitsugaya muttered. It looked like he had a burning question inside of him that he wanted to ask, but didn't dare to. Finally, he opened his mouth. "Sakura, why did you come back to Soul Society?"

Sakura looked at the short captain. "Well… like I told you. Urahara-san told me his hunch about what was going on here and I came, wanting to be of you know, some help." Sakura said. Hitsugaya mumbled an "Oh" before turning back to face the sky. Sakura smiled to herself before adding, "Other reason why I came back was because… I didn't get to say goodbye to Rangiku-san or you, Shiro-chan." This caused him to complain in annoyance, saying that he wasn't 'Shiro-chan'; he was 'Hitsugaya-taicho'.

Instead of ruffling his hair or retorting back like Sakura would usually do, she just smiled back at her friend and looked back at the sky. "Fine, Hitsugaya-taicho, it is." She said, as she continued watching the sun set little by little. Surprised at her actions, Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. This wasn't normal. He waved a hand in front of Sakura's face as he said, "Hello, Sakura? This is the part where you start messing up my hair or saying something along the lines of 'who cares what I call you'."

Sakura grabbed his hand while it was still shaking in front of her and lowered it down. "What can I say? I'm in an excellent mood today." Sakura smiled at the sky. Truth is, she was just contented to be back in Soul Society, alongside one of her bestest friends, not to mention _crush_. And not even the chance to snap back at her friend would ruin that.

==x==

Sakura woke up at her own comfy bed. She and Hitsugaya had gone back to the division soon after the name-calling incident as she was really poofed and needed rest. That 'Touketsu Sakura' move she used was a real energy-drainer. Groggily, she got out of her bed.

After taking a morning shower and brushing her teeth, Sakura changed out of her yukata and into a Shinigami robe. Slipping on her Zanpakutou, she got out of her room and headed straight for the 10th division's study.

==x==

_(In the study)_

"Matsumoto…" Hitsugaya growled at his lieutenant. She had gotten herself drunk the previous night and was currently still fast asleep on the couch in the study. Sighing, he shook her awake. "Taicho…?" she stirred and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "You better wake up. The taicho and fukutaicho meeting is in an hour and a half." He said seriously. "Demo Taicho, if it's in an hour and a half, why did you have to wake me up now…" she grumbled, getting out of the couch. "Because, knowing you, you would probably spend another half hour at the sink and another fifteen minutes taking your time to go back to your room to get changed." He started to say, when the door slid open.

"Ohayo!" Sakura stepped in, beaming ear to ear. She had told herself that she would be happy while she could; who knew what the sou-taicho would do to her. "Sakura-chan! Taicho's being a bully!" Matsumoto spoke up, pointing an accusing finger at the silver-haired guy while struggling to keep her balance. She glanced at Hitsugaya, who gave her a "She's drunk" look. Nodding her head, Sakura went over and helped the orange haired fukutaicho back onto the chair. Sakura took a packet of pills out from her robes and fished one out.

"How did you know she was drunk?" Hitsugaya inquired. "I have my ways," Sakura replied, as she popped a pill into her fukutaicho's mouth. She had brought along the packet as she knew that her friend would probably drown her sorrows in sake, like she normally did. Ichimaru Gin's betrayal really was a hard-blow for her. "Swallow it, Rangiku-san, it'll help with your hangover." She said. Like a little child, Matsumoto nodded and swallowed the pill without a single complaint. Almost at once, her eyes brightened and she was able to stand up without losing her balance. "Sakura-chan! When did you get here!" the lieutenant asked, tilting her head to one side. "She gave you the pill for your hangover… again." Hitsugaya answered, before Sakura could open her mouth.

Just then, a knock came from the door and revealed a Shinigami standing there bowing. "Toushime Sakura, the captain-commander requests that you see him immediately," he said, before standing up and taking his leave.

"Great… not now…" Sakura mumbled. "What have you gotten yourself into this time, Sakura?" Hitsugaya questioned. "Nothing, just that well, I wasn't supposed to come back here without his permission so it's safe to say he's pissed at me." Sakura said, all in one breath, walking towards the door. "Well, wish me luck and pray that he won't send me into exile or transfer me from the squad!" She said before exiting the study and closing the door, before her friends had a chance to answer.

==x==

Before long, Sakura had arrived at the meeting hall at the first division headquarters. Gulping down a ball of saliva, Sakura knocked on the door and entered. She walked briskly towards the old guy, and immediately bowed down in respect before babbling on like a train. "Yamamoto sou-taicho, gomen nasai gomen nasai… I didn't mean to go against your orders yesterday, it was just that-" she started, before Yamamoto cut her off.

"Apologies can be made later. It is not why you are here anyway."

"It's not?" Sakura heaved a sigh of relief. And there she was, embarrassing herself in front of the captain-commander, worried about being sent away from Soul Society….

"Yes, it's not. The reason you're here today is to take a test." The old guy said clearly.

"A test? What test…?" Sakura jolted up and raised an eyebrow.

==x==

Emm297: And there you go! Chapter 10 is complete! Haha, yet another cliffie! Don't worry, it's not becoming a habit, I just felt that it would be good to end the chapter this way! Chap 11 will come out REAL soon, I promise! (Raises pinky and shakes with Sakura's pinky)

Ok next up, exactly what test does Sakura have to take? And how will the test turn out? Read chapter 11 to find out!

Thanks to everyone who has been following Sakura for the past 10 chapters! It's much appreciated! You guys ROCK! (Sakura: HAI HAI HAI! THEY ABSOLUTELY RULE!)

Keep on reading guys and thanks for the wonderful feedback for the story! Even if all you did was add the story to a favourites or put it under story alert, I know and appreciate it! My email is clogged up with telling me that people are reviewing and putting my story as a favourite or putting my story under story alert. ARIGATO ! XD Watch out for chappie 11!


	11. The Test

Emm297: Hey people! I'm updating once more, yeah? So here goes! What test does Sakura have to take? Read on!  
Sakura: Emm-chan does not own Bleach. If she did, she wouldn't have to be writing this on , this WOULD be the story. Ha.  
Emm297: Yup, so here's chapter ELEVEN!

(A/N: I didn't mean to make Sakura Mary Sue in any way. I made this story out of many daydreams that started a long time ago (not really, maybe early may?) so I'm not willing to change anything. But like I said, no flames please. )

Also, in a chappie, I said Urusai was shut up, but it's not ok? It means bothersome or something like that. Gomen!

==x==

"A test? What test…?" Sakura jolted up and raised an eyebrow.

"A captain's test."

At that, Sakura's eyes went wide open. "A… captain's test?"

Yamamoto nodded briefly before he opened his mouth once more. "Noticing your… err… skills, yesterday, we have decided to put you as a new captain. That way, we can resume our activities as per normal soon without the problem of having 3 captains less."

Sakura stared at the old guy, waiting for some "April fools!" shout out from him. Unfortunately none came and Sakura was forced to accept that this was really happening. Not that she didn't want to become a captain, she did, it was just too… sudden. I mean, one day she was worrying about being banished to the real world and the next she would be a potential candidate for a captain rank. It was a HUGE jump.

Sakura gave a light nod to the captain-commander. He then proceeded to tell her all about what was going to happen. He, along with Byakuya and Ukitake would be the three captains that would be her 'examiners' and they would ask her to perform tasks. After nodding to tell him that she understood his instructions, Sakura started stretching and cracking her knuckles to get ready.

"_You know that there is a chance of you goofing up, don't you?"_ Kasumi said.

"You don't have to make me feel even more nervous now, do you Kasumi?" Sakura shot back.

"_Well, I'll do my best, if you do yours…"_ Kasumi said in a tone that told Sakura she really didn't want to do this at all.

"Yeah, I'll give it my all," Sakura replied, Kasumi's voice faded once more.

"Ready Sakura?" Yamamoto's voice boomed, as she heard the door open. Byakuya and Ukitake walked in and sat down next to the sou-taicho. Byakuya looked his usual cold self. "He kinda reminds me of Hitsugaya-chan…" Sakura thought, as she noticed Ukitake flash her a small smile. She returned the smile before looking straight at Yamamoto and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready all right."

==x==

"Well Sakura, first we need you to perform a simple kidou spell. Number 33." Ukitake said.

"This feels so much like placement testing…" Sakura thought, as she raised her two hands in front of her and yelled, "Way of destruction number 33, Blue fire crash down!". A burst of blue energy went flying towards one of the targets in front of her (that someone had set up there) and the target immediately exploded into bits.

_(Flashback)_

_Sakura was standing nervously in a straight row, waiting for her turn to go into the interview room for her kidou practical tests . They had just taken the tests on medical training, and needless to say, Sakura would most definitely not make it to the 4__th__ division. Healing was never her strong point. She was also sure she didn't want to be put in the 12__th__ division. She did not want to spend her entire life in the Gotei 13 in a laboratory or in a surveillance lab, that's for sure. _

_Thus, Sakura had made it a point to study real hard to be able to be placed in a good squad. She really didn't want to be put under the Special Ops Corps, or the Correction Corps, so squad 2 was kinda out. Ichimaru Gin scared her, so 3 was also out. Division 4? Ha, get real. Aizen was kind of creepy, the way he was so nice to everyone, like he had a hidden agenda or something. Kuchiki Byakuya was known to be a cold and serious guy and most definitely did not fit her personality. Komamura taicho was well… a fox. And Sakura never liked hanging out with animals much. Kyoraku was really a lazy taicho, which meant that she would have to help out with the paperwork a lot if she went there. Tousen wasn't that creepy, in fact his lieutenant, Shuuhei Hisagi, was kinda cute as well. Zaraki Kenpachi's 11__th__ squad was kind of too violent for her, and she wanted to use kidou as well, so 11__th__ was out of the question. 12__th__ just freaked her out. Thus, she was left with three options. 9__th__, 10__th__ and 13__th__. The 10__th__ squad captain, Matsaiko Keiyo (A/N: Made her up!) was quite nice on the whole. Matsumoto was in the 10__th__ as well, which meant Sakura would at least know one person there (A/N: read Sakura's profile to find out how Matsumoto met Sakura It's taken from the manga of how Hitsugaya met Matsumoto actually). Ukitake was also a very nice and friendly taicho. _

_Just then, Sakura's name was called and Sakura gulped. It was her turn to go into the interview room and meet all the captains, as well as take a practical examination to see which squad suited her. She stepped forward and walked towards the room. Once you were done with your examination and interview, you would not return back to the waiting hall, instead you would head over to the main hall to await further instructions. Hitsugaya had already been called 3 people before her and Sakura had no idea how his interview went. _

_Sakura put her hand on the doorknob and turned it. The door opened and Sakura stepped in, her heart beating faster by the second. All 13 captains were seated on various armchairs and couches around the room, leaving a chair in the centre "for the candidate to sit," Sakura presumed, walking over to the spot and bowing down. After the sou-taicho told her to take a seat, he explained what they were going to do. Firstly, they would ask her a few questions and then they would proceed with the practical test. Sakura nodded and watched the sou-taicho gather a few sheets of paper from the table before him before he started asking his questions._

==x==

_On the whole, the interview section went pretty smoothly. She had been truthful about not wanting to be put in the 12__th__ squad, to which Mayuri smiled eerily and said something about "not being a good test subject anyway". When Soi Fong asked her if she wanted to be part of the Special Ops or the Correction Corps, Sakura shook her head and explained that that really wasn't her thing. Soi Fong nodded and wrote furiously on her paper. Unohana also asked if Sakura wanted a spot in her division, but Sakura said openly that she would rather be on the frontline fighting rather than tending to the injured, to which Unohana smiled sweetly and wrote something down on her papers. When Zaraki heard that Sakura wanted to fight, he asked whether she would like a place in his squad. Sakura told him that she didn't like relying on her physical strength alone; she liked using kidou sometimes, which was considered the coward's way to fight in the 11__th__ squad. The spiked-haired captain merely shrugged as he continued staring blankly into space. _

_After several more questions, the captain-commander decided that it was time for her to take the practical test. "Toushime Sakura, please perform these few kidou spells. Way of destruction numbers 4, 31 and 33." Yamamoto said sternly._

"_Hai," Sakura said, as a huge glass dome appeared in the centre of the room. Sakura took a step inside and watched as 3 targets appeared in front of her. Sakura took a deep breath. "I must not screw this… I must not screw this…" she chanted as she raised her forefinger in front of her. "Way of destruction number 4, White Lightning!" she shouted, as a concentrated bolt of lightning came out form her forefinger and hit the target spot-on. "One down, two to go," Sakura thought, as she smiled to herself._

==x==

_The practical test went really good. She had also managed to perform Abolishing flames and Six Rods of Prison Light, did some long distance and close distance combat test and left the interview room looking at a few impressed captains. "At least I know I didn't screw that as badly as the medicals…" she said to herself as she walked towards the main hall._

_(End flashback) _

Apparently when Sakura was daydreaming, she managed to subconsciously perform quite a few kidou spells. "I'm impressed with myself…" Sakura mumbled, as she heard the shuffling of papers from the few taichos. "Well now, Sakura. Could you please show us your Shikai and Bankai and some well… special attacks? I now we've seen it yesterday but… standard procedure, you know?" Ukitake asked gently, giving Sakura and encouraging smile.

"Sure…" she answered, as she took her Zanpakutou out from its sheath. "Here goes, Kasumi…" she thought, as she said out loud, "Koori ga hatte imasu, Kasumi!"

At once, two navy blue ribbons appeared on the side of the cross-guard, the blade turned an icy blue and the hilt turned into a beautiful sparkling blue crystal. Kasumi's spirit form emerged from the tip of the Zanpakutou.

"Well… I wonder what move I should do…" she pondered.

"_Well… how about we just cut to the chase and use Bankai?"_ Kasumi told her.

"I guess that's a good idea as well…" Sakura said to her zanpakutou's spirit form in her mind.

"Bankai." She said simply, as she gave her Zanpakutou a little wave.

Ice formed on Sakura's right hand as well as behind her back like wings. Her Zanpakutou remained as it was in Shikai. "Might as well go all out…" Sakura said to herself, as she concentrated hard on her reiatsu. Her Shinigami robes began to glow bright blue and in an instant, her outfit changed from black to a pale blue.

"Ok Sakura, let's do this." Kasumi's stern voice told her as Sakura mentally nodded and took a step forward.

"Shiro Fubuki!" she yelled, as she used her Zanpakutou and made a sweeping motion with it. Wind dispersed from her blade as Kasumi opened its large mouth. Snow came flying out of Kasumi's mouth and was carried forward by the strong gust of wind. Using her Zanpakutou, Sakura controlled the path of the blizzard, making a huge tornado of snow 'dance' in front of the 3 captains. When she felt that she had gave them enough time to awe at the blizzard tornado thing, Sakura made another swift and sharp sweep with her Zanpakutou and the blizzard disappeared into thin air, along with her Bankai.

"Well then… anything else that I can do for you guys?" Sakura demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"No, nothing more. If you would, could you please wait there?" Yamamoto said, pointing towards a far corner of the room. Grudgingly, Sakura walked over to the area Yamamoto had pointed to. "This is such a waste of time… I could be training or having breakfast or visiting Ichigo!" she muttered. As soon as she reached the corner of the room, she heard Yamamoto call her to go back over to where he was. Sakura rolled her eyes. "Damn… couldn't they just let me stay there…" she mumbled, taking her own sweet time to walk back.

"Sakura, we have come to a decision," Yamamoto said with his booming clear yet intimidating voice.

Somehow, Sakura felt a knot form in a stomach. She was sure she didn't care much before, but all of sudden… she suddenly felt like she really wanted this position. She breathed a huge breath of air, and held it there.

"You are worthy of being called a Gotei 13 captain."

"Do you accept?"

Sakura shrugged. "Why not?"

==x==

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya was hurrying Matsumoto. Apparently, the redhead was still busy "combing her hair", which she had been doing for the past 10 minutes. Hitsugaya growled, as he kept knocking on her door. "Matsumoto… if you don't come out soon, I'm gonna leave for the meeting without you!" Hitsugaya grumbled. He heard the slamming of a drawer and seconds later, Matsumoto emerged from her room.

"Finally…" Hitsugaya mumbled, as Matsumoto shut her door. "Taicho, where's Sakura-chan?" Matsumoto asked, ignoring her taicho's complaints earlier on. Her question got Hitsugaya thinking. That's right; she had left about half an hour ago. The sou-taicho wouldn't normally talk to a person one-to-one for so long… Sakura was either in a hell lotta trouble, or she had just went off without coming back to look for them. Giving Matsumoto a look that said "Who knows?", the silver-haired captain and his redhead lieutenant shunpo-ed off towards the meeting hall.

==x==

Emm297: Well there you have it! Chapter 11! Chapter 12 will come out as soon as I can finish it! In the meantime, keep checking!

A big shout out to Kajimori and AddictedtoBleach for reviewing at the latest chapters everytime! MUCH APPRECIATED! ;D

Meanwhile, wait up for chappie 12!


	12. Celebrations

Emm297: SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I've been busy with holiday activities lately (yeah, my holidays just started!)… But anyway, here's chapter 12! Sakura…?  
Sakura: Yup, I shall now state that Emm-chan does not own bleach! However, she owns me, my Zanpakutou and its moves!  
Emm297: Arigato Sakura! And just to let u guys know, I'm going on a short holiday from 4th to 7th, so I most prob won't be updating till the next week, since my parents forbid me from bringing my laptop. Sorry peeps! (BOOHOO!)

Just so you know, iie means 'no'.

Let's begin then, shall we?

==x==

Giving Matsumoto a look that said "Who knows?", the silver-haired captain and his redhead lieutenant shunpo-ed off towards the meeting hall.

When the pair had reached the place, they found every captain and lieutenant already standing there. "Dammit Matsumoto, see? We're late!" Hitsugaya mumbled under his breath to his fukutaicho, who gave a small smile to her captain before taking her place behind him.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, Matsumoto fukutaicho, you've finally come." Yamamoto called out to the pair. Hitsugaya lowered his head down sheepishly whereas Matsumoto just gave a small apologetic smile. "Well then, this meeting will officially start now," Yamamoto announced, as he hit his staff on the wooden flooring once.

"As you know, three of the Gotei 13 captains have betrayed us. Also, we have one lieutenant less," the old guy said, pointing at the empty space where the 5th division was supposed to stand. At this, Hitsugaya winced. Unohana had told him that morning that Hinamori was in a coma after sustaining serious injuries from Aizen's Zanpakutou. Shaking off that feeling, he continued listening to what the captain commander had to say.

"Well, also, the Central 46 has been murdered and therefore I will be in charge of overseeing all of Seireitei's day-to-day activities and making the important decisions. Thus, I have made a decision to promote one of our Gotei 13 Ranked Officer to the position of a captain. This new captain has already taken the taishushiken (Captain Proficiency test) with me and 2 other captains as witnesses." At this, excited whispers could be heard echoing throughout the hall. "This captain will take charge of the 9th squad," Yamamoto said clearly, as almost every head turned towards Hisagi, who didn't seem to care much about the news and remained stern. "Hitsugaya-taicho. You will assist the new captain in running the 3rd and 5th squads till we find another suitable candidate to be their captain," Yamamoto instructed. Hitsugaya gave a small nod and the captain commander continued. "I chose you because it seems that you treat paperwork the most seriously of all captains, (Matsumoto had to suppress a giggle at this point) and because you and the new captain get along quite well." At this, many heads turned towards Hitsugaya. "Taicho! Do you know who the new captain is? Tell me, tell me!" Matsumoto whispered into her taicho's ear, only to be ignored. "I get along well with this captain…? That must mean I know him…" Hitsugaya pondered for a moment before he heard the sou-taicho speak up once more.

"Well now. It is time to introduce you to the new 9th squad captain." Yamamoto clasped his hands together and a figure came out from the shadows.

The Shinigami was wearing the standard uniform but with the sleeveless captain's haori over the kimono. There was a pale green sash pinned with a 5 pointed star around her shoulders to secure her sword. Her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail and part of a white ribbon could be seen dangling from her ponytail.

"Please welcome Toushime Sakura to the ranks of a captain." Yamamoto announced.

==x==

Sakura walked slowly down the aisle and took her place beside Hitsugaya and Kyoraku and in front of Hisagi and gave a small bow to her front. When she had stood up properly, Yamamoto continued. "I hope that everyone will help Toushime-taicho to adapt to being a taicho. You're all dismissed," he said, as the doors of the meeting hall opened.

Everyone filled out of the room orderly. But once everyone was outside, some of them formed a circle around Sakura.

"Cherry blossom-chan! Now that you're a captain, does that mean you won't give me sweets anymore?" Yachiru asked innocently, using the nickname that she gave Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, why didn't you tell us you were applying for captain?" Kiyone and Sentaro asked at the same time, leading to a death-glare competition between the two.

Sakura smiled awkwardly. Just when she thought she would never get out of this anytime soon, Matsumoto stepped forward to help disperse the crowd. "Ok people, nothing to see here, move on!" she said, making hand gestures to shoo the Shinigami away. Which worked, surprisingly.

When the crowd had finally dispersed, leaving only Hitsugaya, Hisagi and Matsumoto standing next to her, Sakura took in a huge breath. "That was super scary. I'm not going to do it again." She thought to herself. "Now, back to business. Why didn't you tell us you were applying? You made it sound like you were going to be exiled from Soul Society when you left and now you're the new 9th captain!" Matsumoto said, waving her arms in the air to emphasize how crazy she thought the whole thing was. Sakura then took the liberty to tell them exactly what Yamamoto called her for and what happened after that. When she had finished, she looked at Hisagi.

"Hisagi, could you go back to the division? I want to talk to Hitsugaya-chan and Rangiku-san for awhile."

"Hai."

Hisagi then turned around and shunpo-ed off. Sakura felt herself staring at the direction he left in for a long time. Just as she was about to turn back around to talk to her friends, she felt Matsumoto grab her arm. "Hey, Rangiku-san! What are you doing!" she yelled, as Matsumoto dragged both her and Hitsugaya towards the 10th division quarters.

==x==

When they had arrived at the study, Matsumoto finally released her grip on the two short captains.

"Matsumoto, I understand why you grabbed Sakura, but you really didn't have to grab me, now did you?" Hitsugaya questioned, with an irritable look on his face. "Taicho… don't be such a party pooper!" Matsumoto whined as she turned to Sakura.

"Well, it looks like I can't call you Sakura-chan anymore, Toushime-taicho!" Matsumoto said teasingly.

"Nani? Please don't call me Toushime-taicho. It makes me feel so weird… " Sakura replied, pouting.

"Well then. What to call you… I know! Sakura-san! Or Sakura-sama!" Matsumoto said excitedly, looking at her friend's reaction. Sakura stared at her friend before saying, "Iie… How about you just stick with Sakura-chan!"

"Iie, I can't! Even if you're my friend, now you're a higher rank than me, right taicho?" Matsumoto said looking at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya was looking more indifferent and… cold than usual. "Taicho?" Matsumoto asked, concerned. "Taicho, if I knew better, I would think you didn't like Sakura being a captain!" she added. Hitsugaya shrugged and turned to face the window in an attempt to shut out whatever the redhead and Sakura were saying.

Suddenly, Matsumoto clapped her hands together. "I know! How about Sakura-taicho-chan?" she said eagerly. Sakura thought about it for a moment.

"_Well, it __**is**__ better than Sakura-sama isn't it?"_ Kasumi told her.

"Yeah, I guess it is…" Sakura replied to her Zanpakutou before telling Matsumoto, "Yeah, sure, Rangiku-san. You can call me that I guess…"

"You can't call me Rangiku-san either! Matsumoto will do." The redhead chirped.

"Iie! I'll feel weird calling you Matsumoto. How about Rangiku-chan?"

"Sure!" The 10th squad fukutaicho replied before putting her finger one her chin and looking as though she had a major light bulb moment.

Matsumoto squealed in delight. "You know what? We should have a celebration!" she announced. "How about we all meet in the bar that I always go to? I'll invite everyone along! Taicho, is it ok?"

"Yeah… sure, whatever." He replied nonchalantly, never once taking his gaze from the window.

"Well, it's settled then! I'm going to invite now! Sakura-taicho-chan! You're coming with me!" she told her brown-haired friend and dragged her out of the study room.

==x==

_(Fast forward a few hours)_

It was night(around 8) and Sakura was seated in the bar, along with Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Hisagi, Yachiru and Zaraki. Matsumoto had gone off to order the sake. Hitsugaya didn't want to come as he said he had 'paperwork' to finish. And when Matsumoto had tried begging him to come, he lost his temper and shouted back at her, which scared his two friends and they rushed out of the study immediately.

Yachiru, hearing the commotion everyone was making, went over and found out that they were going to celebrate and promptly rushed off to tell 'Ken-chan' about it. Thus, they found themselves going into the bar with the spikey-haired guy and his pink-haired lieutenant.

"Baldy! Why are we here again?" asked Yachiru, directing the question to Ikkaku, who growled. "We're here to celebrate Sakura becoming a captain!" he said, glaring at his lieutenant.

"Oh yeah Sakura. Congrats on becoming a captain." Renji said. "Thanks…" she replied, just as Matsumoto came in with 14 bottles of sake and a bottle of soda. "Alright, everyone gets 2 bottles and Yachiru gets the soda." She instructed, handing the soda to Yachiru, who smiled and tried to open the bottle. Everyone else grabbed two bottles and opened one of them.

"So, Sakura. How about we fight one of these days? You must be good to have become a captain without being a lieutenant," Zaraki said, taking a gulp from his bottle, while Yachiru was still trying to open her soda.

Sakura shrugged. "Sure, it would be fun, I guess…"

Zaraki smiled his signature eerie smile and took another gulp from his bottle.

After 10 minutes, at which Sakura had been congratulated by everyone (excluding Yachiru) and everyone had finished their first bottle, Sakura noticed Yachiru having trouble opening her soda (yeah, she still couldn't open it). "Yachiru-chan, do you need help?" she asked, causing everyone to turn to look at Yachiru. "Ha, that's what you get for calling me baldy," Ikkaku said, taking another swig from his 2nd bottle. Yachiru didn't respond; she was still trying furiously to open her bottle.

All of a sudden, "POP!" the cap flew out and soda followed. And guess who it hit?

"Damn!" Ikkaku yelled, as he tried frantically to stop the soda from further soaking his face. Everyone started laughing and even Zaraki smirked. "I would really like to drink the soda but you know, I think I'd prefer it on Baldy's face!" Yachiru said laughingly. "It's ok Yachiru-chan, I'll get you another bottle of soda." Sakura said, standing up. "Yeah, and this time make sure you open it for her!" Ikkaku grumbled, wiping the last remaining traces of soda from his face with some tissue.

"I'll help," Hisagi said, standing up as well to follow Sakura. Everyone turned to look at Hisagi for a moment before they turned their heads back to their drinks. "Hisagi! Get me another (hic) bottle please! HAHAHA! I SAID PLEASE!" Matsumoto cheered, waving her half-empty bottle of sake around.

Sakura turned around. "She's drunk, isn't she?" she asked Hisagi, who nodded while closing his eyes.

"Well then, let's go get some more drinks." Sakura beamed and beckoned Hisagi to follow her to the counter.

==x==

Soon after, the group found themselves consuming their 5th bottle of sake (2nd bottle of soda for Yachiru). "Sakura-(hic)taicho-(hic)-chan! We need more sake!" Matsumoto cooed. Grabbing Ikkaku by the wrist and shoving his palm up into the air.

"Damn it, Matsumoto…" Ikkaku growled, swallowing another gulp of sake. His cheeks lined with a red colour. Sakura looked around. Apparently she was the only one that didn't seem totally or slightly drunk., not counting Yachiru, who was perched on Zaraki's shoulders. Even Zaraki looked a little drunk.

"I have no idea how I'm going to shift everyone back to their divisions…" Sakura said under her breath, taking another sip of her drink. She looked around once more. Everyone seemed drunk and incapable of getting back to their divisions on their own two feet. "Damn… Why must I be the one who can withstand the most alcohol…" she muttered. Finishing off her last bottle, she stood up and slung Matsumoto, the most drunk of them all, around her shoulder.

"Come on, Rangiku-san. Time to go." She said, trying to make her way to the front door.

"Cherry blossom-chan! Are we leaving now?" Yachiru chirped. Sakura gave a small nod and said, "Yachiru, you're fine right? Can you support Zaraki?" Yachiru's cocked her head to her left. "You want me to carry Ken-chan back to the division?"

"Yeah… can you do that?" Sakura asked sweetly, taking out 3 sweets from her pocket and handing them to Yachiru.

"Ooh! CANDY! Sure, Cherry blossom-chan! I'll carry Ken-chan back!" The little fukutaicho snatched the sweets from Sakura's hand and in a flash, she and Zaraki were gone.

"Wow. She's THAT strong…" Sakura thought. Snapping back, she walked out of the front door and left her redhead friend on the bench located just next to the door.

After six minutes, she managed to get everyone out onto the bench. Standing back to look at all her friends, Sakura started laughing. The bench was too small for everyone to sit straight up so all of them were kinda squashed between each other. Matsumoto, being the first whom Sakura took out, was at the bottom of the pile and lying on the bench. Ikkaku had his head on her stomach and Yumichika had his head on her legs. Renji and Hisagi were at the top of the pile, resting on top of Ikkaku and Yumichika.

"This is such a camera moment." Sakura said, whipping out her camera-pen (she took it along with her when she came back to help SS). After snapping a few shots, she kept her prized possession.

"Now, how the heck am I supposed to bring 5 drunks back by myself?" she mumbled, taking another step back.

"You know, I think I might just have the answer," she said, as her hand found its way to the hilt of her Zanpakutou.

Her next words were barely audible to anyone but herself.

"Koori ga hatte imasu, Kasumi."

==x==

Emm297: Well everyone, there you go! Chapter 12. Sorry it took so long! Like I said, next chapter will only come out early next week or after the 7th. I've started on it already, so it shouldn't take that long to complete… I hope.

And thanks to anyone else who didn't review but still read my story! Arigato!

Lastly, a big shout-out to Yorukirin, Kajimori and AddictedtoBleach, who have been reviewing my fanfic! You guys ROCK. XD Please check your email or something. I'm gonna reply to your reviews and say something EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. So please CHECK!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE AND HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER! ;D


	13. Stings

Emm297: Well, finally. Chappie 13! I shall cut to the chase, yah? Ok let the story-  
Sakura: Wait! Emm-chan does not own Bleach- you know, I feel stupid saying this every chapter. Can we get someone else? –walks off and drags Hitsugaya along-  
Emm297: Well then. Hitsugaya-chan, would you please?  
Hitsugaya: Wait, why am I supposed to do this?  
Emm297: Cause I say so. And if you don't I will make your life terrible in the story.  
Hitsugaya: Fine. Emm-chan does, however, own Sakura, her Zanpakutou and its moves. Happy?  
Emm297: Hai! And just so you guys know, this chapter is kinda like a transitional chapter. You'll see what I mean. And sorry for the late update! Told ya I was going away for awhile… Gomen! Well then…

Emm297+Sakura: Let the story begin!

==x==

"Koori ga hatte imasu, Kasumi."

At once, the Zanpakutou transformed into its brilliant blue state and Kasumi came out from the tip of the blade.

"_You called?" Kasumi asked her mistress._

Nodding, Sakura gestured towards her drunken friends. "I'm going to need your help… There's no way I can carry them back by myself," Sakura said.

"_Well sure you can! Just pile them on top of you and shunpo back. Then rush to the 4__th__ division for treatment of broken back, neck and swollen hands. That's all you gotta do." Kasumi joked._

Sakura turned to face her zanpakutou's spirit and gave her a death-glare. "Are you going to help me or what?"

The translucent blue dragon nodded and smiled. Shaking her head, Sakura slowly lifted each of her friends from the bench and sat them on Kasumi's back. Finally she managed to shift Matsumoto, who was the last one. "Now… how am I going to make sure they don't fall off the side…"Sakura thought.

"_Well, you could make them hold onto each other's waists and make the first person hold onto me…" Kasumi suggested._

"Great idea!" Sakura answered, as she did just that. So it turned out that Renji was holding onto Kasumi, Yumichika onto Renji, Ikkaku onto Yumichika, Hisagi onto Ikkaku and Matsumoto onto Hisagi.

Taking a step back to make sure everyone was in position, Sakura heard her Zanpakutou's spirit ask, _"Well, where are we going?"_

Sakura stood there for a moment. "Ok… Let's see. I am so not going to the 11th division, especially when Yachiru just had candy and soda and Zaraki is drunk. And I am not going to the 6th to see Byakuya's expressionless expression when he sees me bringing in Renji like this. And I have no idea how Shiro-chan will react when he sees Matsumoto in this state, and what's more, he was kinda pissed in the evening so 10th is a big no-no. And as for Hisagi, I don't exactly know where his room key is, and I don't have a duplicate as well. Damn… Looks like everyone is gonna stay with me tonight…"

Kasumi smirked and gave her a face that said "Good luck with that" and motioned for Sakura to climb onto her too. Sakura obeyed and soon, they were off, soaring through the dark sky.

==x==

Once they had reached the gate leading to the 9th division, Sakura got off Kasumi and started walking in front of her Zanpakutou's spirit, leading the dragon towards the gate. When they had gotten through the gates (it wasn't usually guarded at night), Sakura tried finding her way to the study. Tomorrow would be her first official day as captain and she still hadn't looked around her own division yet. "Shimitta… where's the freaking study?" she mumbled as she tried looking around, with only the candles at the side to provide light for her to see.

"_Maybe it's that one over there,"_ she heard Kasumi propose and turned round. Kasumi was making head gestures towards the door nearest to them on their left (which was the 3rd door from the left of the main gate). Counting on her luck, Sakura tried to open the door. Surprisingly, it was unlocked and Sakura led Kasumi inside.

After using the candle outside to light the bigger candle in the room, Sakura stood at the door and took a look around. There were 2 desks in the room, a big one directly facing the door and a slightly smaller one more facing the right wall. In the center of the room, there was a dark blue velvet covered sofa and a rectangular coffee table in front of it, with two more dark blue velvet covered armchairs at the side of the coffee table. There was a window slightly to the left of the bigger desk and another window slightly to the right of the bigger desk. On the far right of the room, there were 2 bookshelves with boxes and a few books stacked neatly one after the other. There was a notice board next to the bookshelves and Sakura could see a note or too pinned onto the material.

"This reminds me so much of the 10th's study…" Sakura thought as she began to reminisce about her times in the 10th division. _"Hello? I'm still here with 5 people on my back!"_ Kasumi said and Sakura immediately went out of 'daydream mode'. Lifting her friends off Kasumi and onto the chairs, Sakura decided that she would have to stay here for the night, as she had no keys to her own room in the 9th division and her room in 10th was probably only comfortable for 4 of them, excluding herself.

"Well then, Kasumi. Your work here is done." And with a small nod and smile, Kasumi vanished, leaving only a small amount of mist where she last was. Sakura swung her Zanpakutou onto her shoulders and secured it using her 5 pointed star pin. "I think I should get the hangover pills," Sakura told herself, before extinguishing the flame on the candle in the room, closing the door and shunpo-ing off towards 10th.

==x==

Opening the gates to the 10th as quietly as she could, Sakura crept into her previous division. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted some light coming out from the study room. "Shimitta… he's awake?" Sakura muttered as she silently walked past the study room and rushed off towards her room in the 10th.

Once she had gotten a few spare blankets, pillows and her pack of hangover pills, Sakura chucked them into her purple bag. And then as quickly and as quietly as she could manage, she rushed back towards her new division, making it back without Hitsugaya noticing.

After she had changed into her yukata, placed the blankets and a few pillows with her friends, Sakura sat down in a corner of the room. "Well, this isn't how I would like to spend my first night in my new division, but I guess it'll have to do…" she thought, as she pulled out another blanket and a pillow from her bag. "Well, we'll see how tomorrow will go then…" she said quietly, as she slowly fell asleep.

==x==

The next morning, Sakura found herself being the first to wake up. Checking the clock in the study, she noticed it was already eleven in the morning. She walked towards the toilet (which was joined to the study) and changed into a fresh new set of Shinigami robes, put on a new piece of Captain's haori and washed up. When she stepped out of the toilet, she found the others rousing from their slumber. In fact, Hisagi was already sitting up.

"Hey Hisagi, had a nice rest?" Sakura chuckled, putting her yukata into her bag and taking out the hangover pills.

"What… what happened… "Hisagi mumbled, shaking his head. Sakura walked over and gave him one of the pills. "Eat it. It'll help in your hangover."

Obediently, Hisagi popped it into his mouth and swallowed. He felt his vision clearing up and the throbbing headache that once dominated his head vanish slowly. "Arigato," he thanked, as they watched the rest wake up. Wasting no time, Sakura handed them a pill each and instructed them to eat it.

When they had all returned to 'normal', Sakura explained how they had ended up in the study. "Sakura-taicho-chan, where did you sleep then?" Matsumoto asked, concerned. Sakura pointed to the corner. "There." All the 5 of her friends looked stunned. "You slept in the corner and let us take the couch?" Renji asked. "Obviously. I couldn't let you guys sleep on the floor, now could I?" Sakura retorted, placing her hands on her hips. "Thanks then…" Renji mumbled and Sakura smiled. "Well then, since everyone is done for now, how about you all go change and eat some breakfast or something?" she said calmly. Everyone nodded their heads and filed out one by one.

When everyone had gotten out of the study, they stood there, looking at Sakura. "What?" she asked, confused. "We just wanted to thank you, for everything." Ikkaku mumbled. "Oh, how sweet, Ikkaku is thanking someone," Sakura laughed before adding, "It's really ok. That's what friends do for each other, right? Now get going before your captain thinks you've been kidnapped or something."

Everyone nodded and dispersed, leaving Hisagi and Sakura behind. Hisagi turned to walk away but Sakura stopped him. "Hisagi, before you go, could you give me the keys to my room? I was told you'd have them." Hisagi looked confused for a minute before he said, "Oh… those keys. Follow me, they're in my room."

Sakura nodded and followed her lieutenant down the corridor. When they had reached a forked path, Hisagi spoke up. "The unseated officers have their rooms down the left corridor and the seated ones have theirs on the right side." Sakura nodded to tell him that she had understood. "Then what's in front?" she inquired. "I'll show you around later, if you like…"Hisagi proposed. Excitedly, Sakura nodded her head. "Well then taicho, come on and I'll give you your keys."

==x==

When Sakura had finally taken her keys, she walked over to her room, which was just opposite Hisagi's. Opening the door, she had the shock of her life. Compared to her old room, this room was colossal. In her old room, there was only enough space for her bed, a closet, a chest of drawers and a small table. But now, there would be enough room to fit 3 beds, 2 closets, 2 tables and 2 drawers, and still have space left over. "Woah…" she muttered, as she closed the door behind her.

All her belongings from her room in 10th were already there, in a huge blue bag that Sakura recognized as the one that she had gotten from Matsumoto for her previous birthday. There was a table and a pillow to sit on, a square dining table and 8 pillows around it, a single bed, a huge closet and a chest of drawers. What's more, a bathroom was attached (not like her old room in 10th when she had to go outside to use the toilet) and there was even a kitchen. Seriously. There was a stove and a few cabinets and pots and pans hanging from the wall. "This reminds me so much of my room in the real world!" Sakura said, as she remembered how she had learnt how to cook a few simple dishes from Yuzu and Tessai. Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Taicho!" Sakura rushed to the door and opened it. Hisagi was standing outside the door and was about to land another knock on the wooden sliding door. "Toushime Taicho, do you want to take a look-" Hisagi started to say, but Sakura interrupted him. "Wait. Let's get this straight. Do not call me Toushime Taicho ok? It makes me sound so old, and trust me. I'm not old. So just call me Sakura-taicho or something like that ok?" She stated. Hisagi nodded and spoke once more. "Ok then, _Sakura _Taicho, would you want to take a look at the division?"

Sakura nodded enthusiastically and turned around to lock her door.

==x==

The 9th division was a really nice place. At the main gate, there were two walkways that branched out and connected back together further down, forming some sort of square-shaped corridor. On the left side was the study, the meeting hall and store room, where all old reports were stored. Then, on the right side were the training rooms. There was a room specially for kidou, a room specially for practicing Zanjetsu and a room for practicing everything (like 1-on-1s or group vs. group). Then, when the two corridors met, there was a short corridor that led to the forked path Sakura had passed earlier. "The left is-" Hisagi started, but Sakura cut in. "I know, you told me just now. The left is where unseated officers have their rooms and the right is for seated ones. But what's in front?" she asked, pointing to the other corridor in front of her that was blocked halfway by a huge wooden door.

"That, is the Seireitei Communications (A/N: I did NOT make this name up)," Hisagi replied, gesturing for his taicho to follow him through the giant door.

Once Sakura had stepped inside, she found many people frantically rushing about with stacks of paper. "They sure are busy…" Sakura thought out loud. Hisagi smirked and gave a small nod. "Here, almost everyone is busy with the printing processes and the editing works."

Sakura nodded to show that she understood what he was telling her. "Come on Taicho, I think it's time for the division to properly acknowledge you as a captain." Sakura gave a weak smile and followed her lieutenant out of the Seireitei Communications main office area.

==x==

Pretty soon, Sakura found herself staring at over 200 Shinigami faces. "Ok…" she thought to herself. "I've seen Shiro-chan do this a million times back in 10th, I think I should be able to manage…" Taking in a deep breath, she started to address her squad.

Pretty soon, 5 minutes flew by and Sakura had covered basically everything she wanted to cover and most importantly, how they should address her (A/N: not using her family name (Toushime)).

"Well then, I guess that's all I want to say to you guys. Ano… keep up the good work and I'll see you guys around ok?" she concluded, as all of the division members nodded and exited the meeting room orderly. "That wasn't so bad…" Sakura thought, as she walked towards Hisagi, who was standing at the corner all the while.

"Not bad, Taicho…" Hisagi said, impressed. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"I think I'll go do some paperwork." Sakura declared, as she began to stride out of the room. Hisagi gave an 'if-that's-what-you-want' look and followed his captain out and into the study.

==x==

When she had reached the study, she found a small pile of paperwork sitting on her table, waiting for her to sort out and complete. There was also a note. Picking it up, Sakura read it to herself:

_Toushime-taicho,_

_Regarding the 3__rd__ and 5__th__ divisions, I think I should take the 3__rd__ and you can take charge of the 5__th__. Help each other out when needed._

_Hitsugaya-taicho._

"So he wants me to take charge of Hinamori's squad eh…" Sakura shrugged. She was sure that he would want to take the 5th squad, not the 3rd. "Oh well… And since when did he call me Toushime-taicho? He knows how much I hate that name and even so, why didn't he call me 'Sakura'?" she wondered.

"_Hey, maybe he forgot you were his friend?" Kasumi's said laughingly. _

"Oh haha." Sakura shot back sarcastically.

"Taicho? Do you know how to handle the paperwork?" Hisagi's voice drifted into her ears. "Oh yeah, I'll be fine! I've done this for Rangiku-chan hundreds of times already. And, just so you know, I'm also in charge of 5th alright? Hitsugaya is in charge of 3rd." Sakura told him. "Alright. And, if you need help with the paperwork, just tell me, I'll be sitting at my desk doing some stuff for the Seireitei Communications office," he answered. Sakura nodded and picked up her pen and started to work.

==x==

Four and a half hours later, it was already 5.15 in the afternoon and Sakura had just finished all of the paperwork on her desk. Yawning, she stretched both hands out in front of her. "Wow, I never knew Captains had so much paperwork…" Sakura thought to herself. She turned towards Hisagi, who was at his desk furiously scribbling away. "Hisagi, do you mind submitting this paperwork to Division 1 later on for me? I want to go somewhere else."

Hisagi looked up for a brief moment and nodded before he continued with his work. Sakura stood up and walked out of the study.

"Ok… Let's see. I think I shall go visit Rangiku-chan and Shiro-chan. I haven't seen them for quite some time already," thought Sakura.

"_And you can ask him why he supposedly forgot that he was your friend." Kasumi joked._

"He did not forget! I'm sure he had a perfectly good explanation for calling me that," Sakura said, trying to defend her childhood friend.

"_Oh yeah… he just felt like calling you Toushime for a good laugh."_

"Whatever. I'll go there and ask him."

Sakura shunpo-ed out of the 9th division and headed towards her previous division. Wanting to not waste a single moment that could be spent with her best friends, Sakura quickened her pace to the 10th division.

==x==

"I'm finally here," Sakura said, looking up at the division's main gate. "Boy, I sure miss this place…" Sakura took a deep breath and smiled as she entered her previous division. Taking a right turn, she found herself at the front of the 10th division's study. "I wonder if they are inside…" she wondered as she slid the doors open.

Sakura stuck her head in. Hitsugaya was looking out of the window and Matsumoto was standing behind him. She was about to open her mouth to call out to them when Hitsugaya spoke up.

"You know. I really don't think Sakura should be a captain."

==x==

Emm297: Alright there! This is my longest chapter yet, I hope it was up to standard! It's like a transitional chap because the bulk of the story (about the 9th division and the drunk stuff) has nothing to do with the next main climax of the story. It's just the ending part (when Sakura heard what Hitsugaya said) that matters the most.

Well then. I hope you guys will look forward to chapter 14, because I promise it'll be good! It'll probably come out very fast, so keep checking for chappie 14, yeah!

Once again, a big shout-out to AddictedtoBleach, criticsjournalforreviewsonly, Kajimori and Yorukirin for reviewing chap 12! (-HUGS-)

And thanks to everyone who has been reading this fic of mine since day one! I love you guys too XD

Next chapter: How will Sakura react towards Hitsugaya's words? And will this affect their relationship? Stay tuned to chapter 14 to find out! XD


	14. As The Rain Fell

Emm297: Hey there everyone! Here's chapter 14! Hope you guys like it! Hitsugaya?  
Hitsugaya: Damn, I still don't know why you guys have to do this every chapter.  
Emm297: It's so I don't get sued, baka. And, you have to do it because you made Sakura feel sad. Now would you please…?  
Hitsugaya: Fine. Emm does not own Bleach, except for Sakura and her Zanpakutou and its moves.  
Emm297: Arigato Shiro-chan!

Well, let's get it started!

==x==

"You know. I really don't think Sakura should be a captain."

Sakura stood rooted to the ground stunned. What did he just say? Her eyes widened in disbelief and she tried to leave the room quietly. Unfortunately, her foot kicked the door and her two friends turned around sharply to see who made the noise. Sakura's icy blue eyes met the eyes of her previous captain. Tears started flowing down her face and it felt like years before Sakura found the strength to speak up. "Well thanks a bunch, Hitsugaya-chan, so you're saying that I don't deserve to be a Gotei 13 captain? That I'm not good enough to be called one? Thanks a lot _Hitsugaya-taicho_, that really made my day." And with that, Sakura turned round, slammed the doors shut and ran off, not having the strength to use shunpo anymore. She heard the doors open again and Matsumoto calling out to her, but she ignored those and continued running, deciding that anywhere would be better than this area.

==x==

Meanwhile, Matsumoto was looking at Sakura's retreating figure. She crossed her arms and turned towards her taicho.

"Taicho, shouldn't you go after her?"

Instead of replying, Hitsugaya stared blankly at the doorway and shrugged. "Let her be."

Matsumoto rolled her eyes. "Gomen taicho, with all due respect, I'm not going to leave her be. If you won't go after her, I will." And with that, the redhead lieutenant was gone as well.

==x==

Sakura kept running till she found herself at the edge of Seireitei, where a crystal clear lake could be seen, with a tall tree right next to it. Sakura stood there and stared out towards the lake. If he really cared, he would have gone after her. But she knew he wouldn't. She just knew he wouldn't go after her. Sakura felt more hot tears stream down her face and land on the ground below her feet. Suddenly, a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned and saw Matsumoto standing behind her, giving her a small encouraging smile.

"I'm speaking to you as a friend alright?" Matsumoto whispered gently before continuing. "Sakura-chan, I know you're hurting real bad after hearing what he said… even I don't believe that he would say such a thing." Sakura looked up at her previous fukutaicho and waited for her to carry on. "Well, ano… all I'm trying to say is… I'm sure he had a perfectly good reason for saying what he said and that he didn't mean it at all-" Matsumoto suddenly felt a sharp increase in Sakura's reiatsu and looked down at the brown-haired girl.

Sakura's two fists were clenched tight and tears were streaming down her face like a waterfall. "Rangiku-chan, I know you and Hitsugaya are real close and whatever, but you really don't have to speak up for him! Especially at this time!" she bellowed. As soon as she burst out, Sakura took in a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry, but I just need to be alone now."

Matsumoto's shocked expression disappeared and was replaced with a look of understanding. "Alright then, you take care of yourself…" she said, before shunpo-ing off into the distance.

As soon as her redhead friend was out of sight, Sakura felt her knees give way and buckle underneath her. Sakura stared up at the sky, which was once a clear crystal blue, slowly turn into a misty grayish colour. "Dammit, what did I do wrong…?" she whispered to the sky.

Just then, a gust of cold wind blew past and thick drops of rain started falling from the sky.

==x==

_(Back in 10__th__'s study)_

Matsumoto pushed open the sliding doors leading to the study. Her taicho was sitting at his chair but staring out the window, most probably looking at the raindrops fall from the heavens.

"How is she." Matsumoto froze at her captain's words.

"She's… You know taicho, you really hurt her," came the reply.

Hitsugaya looked up at the dark grey sky. "I know."

Matsumoto walked up to his desk and put her hand on his chair. "Taicho, those words that you said are hurtful, to anyone. But hearing them come from own best friend… that's a different story altogether."

The lieutenant heard her captain sigh as he spun his chair around to face Matsumoto. "I guess I should go and make it up to her."

Matsumoto nodded and gave a tiny smile as her captain turned around once more to face the window.

"I hope Sakura-taicho-chan is ok… The rain is really heavy…"

==x==

Sakura didn't know how long exactly she had sat in the rain, staring at the sky. Thunder roared and lightning flashed, but that didn't bother her. Strong cold winds blew past and droplets of water fell onto her, but that didn't bother her either. Somehow, she felt most at ease in the rain. People would say that it was probably because she could control the element of water, but Sakura knew that wasn't it. Since a long time ago, even before she had met Hitsugaya, she had always spent her evenings on the rooftops of houses nearby (she did not have her own house to stay in). And it was even better when it rained. No one would usually go out when stormy weather brewed, thus she could stay on the rooftop for long periods of time before someone actually told her to 'get off' their roof. And coincidentally, it was on a rainy day that she had met Hitsugaya.

_(Flashback)_

"_Am I sore…" Sakura groaned, rubbing the back of her neck. The previous night, she had been sleeping on a straw mat that someone had thrown away and when she woke up, she was sore all over. Needless to say, she didn't get a good sleep. But Sakura was already used to it. For as long as she could remember, she had been wandering around Rukongai in the daytime and when night fell, she would fall asleep on the cold ground. If she was lucky, she could spend her night on someone's rooftop unnoticed. But that was quite rare. Nobody liked having a girl that looked not a day over 10 on their rooftop, especially when the roof had a possibility of giving way. _

_At that thought, Sakura smiled. She had seen some grey looking clouds hanging over the sky on her way to this area. Which meant that it would probably rain and she would finally have another chance at sitting on someone's rooftop to admire the orange sunset, which she hadn't done for a few days already. Just then, a clap of thunder was heard and Sakura looked up at the sky. Indeed, grey clouds had gathered over the area and lightning started to flash. "Yes!" Sakura cheered, as the first few drops of rain started to fall. Sakura watched as adults rushed to get the younger ones inside the houses. "I'll never get to experience that…" Sakura thought. True, she could try to make friends, but what was the use? No matter how much she tried, people just kept avoiding her once they knew that she didn't have a place to call home. It was like they thought that giving her a place to stay was part of the package when they became her friend. Not that Sakura wouldn't jump at an offer, but she knew that each house was probably full already and she didn't want to impose on these people. Also, many children didn't understand why all she wanted to do was just sit on rooftops and stare at the sky; instead of playing ball with them or something like that. "They just don't see the beauty of the sky," Sakura thought aloud, as she looked up at the grey clouds. The rain landed on her skin and Sakura squirmed. She loved the feeling of water. She didn't think there was a particular reason why- she just loved it. As Sakura walked past a small alleyway, she heard someone shouting from there. Curious, Sakura turned into the alleyway. _

_When she had gotten close enough to see what was going on, she noticed a group of about 3 boys forming a circle around something. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a smaller sized boy with snowy white hair and green eyes. _

"_Leave me alone!" The white-haired kid yelled._

"_Aw… Didn't your granny teach you manners?" The first boy replied._

"_Yeah, and what's with that white hair?" The second boy asked, stretching his hand out to pull the white-haired kid's hair._

"_Leave me alone!" _

"_You know, we really hate the colour of your hair. Boys, maybe we should dunk him in mud to dye his hair brown!" The third boy said._

"_Or better yet, we'll beat the crap out of him and the blood will do the rest for us!" The first boy suggested._

_The other two boys nodded in agreement and smirked. All three of them rubbed their hands together and walked towards the white-haired boy._

"_Leave me alone!" he yelled once more._

"_Stop your screaming. No one's gonna hear you. The thunder and rain are keeping them locked safely inside their little houses." _

_Then, all three boys raised their right fists and the little white-haired boy closed his eyes and braced himself for the attack._

_But it never came._

_The white-haired boy opened his eyes and saw a brown haired girl standing right in front of him, blocking all three boys' fists with her right arm. _

"_Didn't you hear? The guy told you to leave him alone." Sakura growled._

"_Ha, the little girl thinks she can stop us!" The first boy laughed. The other two boys laughed along as well. _

"_Well, we'll see who has the last laugh," Sakura said as she lowered her right arm slowly._

_Suddenly, the third boy found himself being kicked in the stomach. The impact sent him flying straight into a wall. And Sakura was still standing where she was. She didn't have to move much to ram that bully into a wall. Her piercing blue eyes met the eyes of the other two boys. The two of them looked nervous, but they weren't going to lose to a girl who was half the size of them._

"_You know, I'm really getting sick of you guys," Sakura stated as she delivered a punch to the first guy's jawbone. The boy was pushed back several feet and when he raised his head, blood could be seen dripping down from his lower lip. _

_Sakura turned towards the last remaining boy. His eyes widened in shock before he bowed quickly and rushed off to help his two friends up. Within a minute, all of them were gone._

"_At least that's over…" Sakura said, turning towards the white-haired boy behind her._

"_Why…why did you save me?" The boy asked._

"_Well, I'll have a go at anyone who disturbs the peace and tranquility of a thunderstorm. I know that sounds weird, but-" Sakura answered, but was cut off mid-sentence._

"_No no, I understand how you feel. Sometimes I even go onto my rooftop to stare at the sky when it's raining." He replied monotonously, standing up._

"_Really? Oh my gosh, I do that too! Only I don't do it on my rooftop…" Sakura responded with enthusiasm. The boy's face was on level with her face. But his white spikey hair made him seem taller than her. _

"_I'm Hitsugaya Toushiro. And thanks for… just now." The white haired boy stuck his right hand out._

"_Toushime Sakura. My pleasure." Sakura clasped his hand and gave it a good shake before letting go._

"_Well… we should be getting home then, shouldn't we?" Hitsugaya asked, gesturing towards the 'exit' of the alleyway,_

"_Yeah… go home… I would like to, one day…" Sakura murmured. "Excuse me?" Hitsugaya asked._

"_Nothing… It's just that…" _

"_Just that what?"_

_Her reply came in a whisper. "I don't have a home."_

_Hitsugaya's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. "You don't?"_

"_Yeah… I've been wandering around Rukongai for as long as I can remember. Everyone who offers me a place either kicks me out in the end because I constantly disappear, or they already have their hands full so I don't want to impose on them… you know?" _

_The white-haired guy nodded understandingly. "Well, I guess you want to sit on the rooftop now, don't you?" He gestured towards the sky as the cool drizzle became heavier._

"_Yeah, so I'm gonna find a random one right now. Well, nice talking to you Hitsugaya. I'll… see you around?" Sakura asked._

"_Yeah… see you around," came the response._

_Sakura was mid-way through the alleyway when she heard his voice once more. _

"_Hey, you wanna come to my place…? You could use my rooftop. It's the least I could do to repay you." _

_Sakura turned and smiled. "Sure. Why not?"_

_(End flashback)_

Sakura stared at the grey sky. The first time she went to his house, Hitsugaya introduced her to his granny and his friend, Hinamori. After telling his granny and Hinamori how Sakura had saved him from the bullies, both Hinamori and his granny insisted that she stayed for dinner. Hitsugaya also told her that Hinamori was due to go to the Shinigami Academy the very next day.

Thus, Sakura spent her rainy afternoon on Hitsugaya's rooftop and during dinner, she talked with Hitsugaya's granny and Hinamori. When she learnt that Sakura had no place to stay, Hitsugaya's granny suggested that she stay with them, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. After all, she did save 'my little Toushiro'. That's how Sakura became a permanent resident in Hitsugaya's house.

Sakura closed her eyes and felt the rain land on her already-wet-hair and her drenched Shinigami robes. "I can't believe Shiro-chan would say that about me…" she told herself. She took in a deep breath and stood up. The rain was starting to turn back into a light drizzle and Sakura figured that people would start to walk past this area once the rain had cleared. Sakura removed her captain haori and shunpo-ed back towards the 9th division.

==x==

Once she had reached there, Sakura went to her room and changed into a new set of Shinigami uniform and a fresh sleeveless captain's haori. It was almost 7 and Sakura felt her stomach rumble. She took out a bowl of instant ramen that she had found in her blue bag and started to boil hot water for it in the kitchen.

_(After 30 min)_

Sakura disposed of the now empty cup of ramen and lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Just then, her doors opened and a hell butterfly flew in. Sakura stuck her finger out and the butterfly landed on it.

"All taichos are to report at the meeting hall at exactly 11 in the morning for a briefing. Also, please note that everyone is not allowed to bring Zanpakutous into the court." And with that, the hell butterfly fluttered out the way it came.

"11 in the morning… No Zanpakutous." Sakura noted. "Well then. Maybe I should go to the real world to take my belongings now… since I've got nothing to do."

Sakura got out of her bed and rushed off towards the 1st division.

==x==

After getting Yamamoto's consent to open the gate, Sakura walked out of the 1st division and found a few people from the Kido corps already waiting for her.

"Sakura-taicho. You wanted to go to the real world?" One of them asked.

Sakura nodded and very soon, she was already in Karakura.

She strode towards Urahara's shop. She had told Urahara about her promotion the other day and he volunteered to help her pack her things in that rented house of hers. And, as a bonus, he had helped her to return the keys back to the owner of the house. Thus, all of her belongings were currently in his shop.

"Urahara-san! Are you there?" She called, once she had reached her destination.

==x==

Once she returned to Soul Society, Sakura started to unpack. Placing everything where they were supposed to go, Sakura fished out a plastic bag from the bottom of her pile of stuff. Inside, where photo frames with photos inside. Before she had come back to Soul Society, she had gone to develop all the photos from her photo-pen. And Urahara, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu were nice enough to help her place them in photo frames when she had returned to the shop.

After a few minutes of unpacking and hanging up photo frames on the wall, Sakura took a step back to admire her room. It felt much cozier now, what with all the photos of her friends hanging at every inch of the place. There were many pictures, for example, a picture of Ichigo and her, a picture of Orihime, Tatsuki and her, a picture of Yumichika, Ikkaku, Matsumoto, Hisagi and her and… a picture of Hitsugaya and her. The last picture, Sakura had chosen to hang on the wall opposite her bed. That way, she could see it everytime she went to sleep.

Sakura turned to the clock on the wall above her door. It was already half past 9 and Sakura felt a yawn coming to her. Stretching out her arms, she quickly changed into a yukata and blew out the candle on her bedside table.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard a knock on her door.

"Sakura! Sakura, are you there?" There came the voice of the person who she liked the most and had hurt her the most. Hitsugaya.

"Sakura, I know you're not asleep! Could you at least hear me out?" He banged repeatedly on the door. Sakura placed a pillow over her ears and shut her eyes tight. She was determined to ignore him. Soon, the banging stopped and Sakura heard him turn around and walk away.

Staring at the wall, Sakura felt hot tears start to prick her eyes. "I thought I told myself that I wasn't going to cry anymore…" she whispered, hastily whipping the tears away.

==x==

The next day, Sakura left her Zanpakutou in her room and left for the captain's meeting. She had spent the entire morning trying to ready herself to face Hitsugaya. "Ignore him and everything will be alright…" she told herself, turning a corner to enter the meeting hall.

As she was taking her place between Komamura and Zaraki, Yamamoto walked in. As she was waiting for him to speak, she felt Hitsugaya's eyes glued onto her. She breathed in and out, trying her best not to look his direction. Then, when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, Yamamoto started talking.

"As you know, Aizen has manipulated the world of the hollows and we have no idea if he will try to destroy the peace of Soul Society. Thus, I am making all captains to go in pairs to patrol the different sections of Rukongai, to make sure that there are no… unusual sights there. Now, I will assign you the groupings. If you wish to change partners, you may. Each pair will patrol the area for 2 hours.

First pair, District 1 to 15, Byakuya-Taicho and Zaraki-Taicho.  
Second pair…"

Sakura found herself being paired with Kyoraku, and they would patrol District 70 to 80, which was the last slot. After Yamamoto had dismissed all the captains, Sakura found herself being approached by Ukitake.

"Sakura-chan, could you please swop with me? I'm afraid I have something planned for during my slot."

"Wait… Who are you paired with? Originally, I mean." She asked. If it was Hitsugaya, there was no way she would swop with him.

"Komamura. My shift is the third one," he replied.

Komamura… Well, he was a friendly person and Sakura was sure that she could at least feel comfortable patrolling with him. "Alright then. I'll swop with you."

After thanking her profusely, Ukitake left. Noticing that Hitsugaya was headed her way, Sakura quickly shunpo-ed back to her division.

==x==

After four hours of grueling paperwork, Sakura headed towards the West Wall of Seireitei, where she waited for Komamura to show up. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around. "Komamura-san, about time you sho-" She stopped mid-way when she noticed that it wasn't Komamura at all.

It was Hitsugaya.

"What… what are you doing here?" She asked, her voice suddenly unusually high.

"Komamura switched with Mayuri. But Mayuri later remembered that he had something on, so he switched with me. I thought I was supposed to be doing patrol duty with Ukitake?" he answered.

"I switched with him."

"Oh. I see…" Hitsugaya gestured towards the west wall. "Well, should we go now?"

Sakura nodded and followed Hitsugaya out into Rukongai.

"Shimitta… If I knew that I would eventually be patrolling with him, I would have switched with someone else too…" she thought silently.

"Maybe it's fate?" Kasumi asked.

"But he's the last person in the world that I would want to do duty with right now." She answered.

"It's no use running forever, Sakura. You've got to face it sooner or later," her Zanpakutou replied.

"Yeah I guess… So I guess I'll be running away while I still can."

Before Kasumi could protest against her idea, Sakura turned to the white-haired guy and said, "How about we each patrol half of this district and we'll meet back here in 10 minutes."

Before he had a chance to react, Sakura had already sped off in the other direction.

==x==

Emm297: Well, here is chapter 14! It isn't that good I guess, but it's the best my brain could come up with! Hope you guys like it anyway! The flashback part didn't come out as nice as I would like it to, but I'm not complaining! Ok guys, please review cause it means a lot to me, yeah!

Next chapter will come out prob on Friday or Saturday!

Thanks go to: KajiMori, animemaster62, Laughing Bandit D Royale, AddictedtoBleach, Yorukirin, snowcakes and Double Princess for either reviewing or adding my story as a favourite! ARIGATO to EVERYONE! You guys rock.

Next chapter: Will Sakura finally have a heart-to-heart with Hitsugaya? Or will she run away once more? All this in chapter 15!


	15. It Took You That Long?

Emm297: Well everyone! Here's chapter 15! Oh, and just so you know, Sakura can't do the disclaimer thing now because she's down with the flu. And chapter 15 is really special! You know why? It's because ICHI means 1 and GO means 5, so put them together you get 15! Haha. And Ichigo has the number '15' on his bedroom door! So 15 is a very special number!

Ok, I shan't keep you guys waiting! Oh, Shiro-chan!

Hitsugaya: Damn. Sakura better get well soon. -Clears throat- Well, Bleach does not belong to Emm-chan. If she did own bleach, the whole storyline would be (looks at script) about… ME AND SAKURA? Oh boy. Thank goodness she doesn't own bleach.  
Emm297: Yup. Thank goodness for Tite Kubo! I own Sakura, her Zanpakutou and its moves though! Ok let's get the show on the road!

==x==

Before he had a chance to react, Sakura had already sped off in the other direction.

"Damn, she's fast… I wonder how long she's gonna keep avoiding me…" Hitsugaya muttered before he sped off in the opposite direction.

==x==

"That was super close," Sakura mumbled, as she slowly came to a halt and scanned the area. Nothing seemed out of place. No one was acting warily and nothing looked suspicious. At least, nothing seemed suspicious.

"I guess I'd better get back to Shiro-chan… Although I don't feel like doing so…" Sakura sighed as she started walking back towards the spot where she was supposed to meet Hitsugaya.

==x==

As soon as Sakura had got there, she found Hitsugaya already waiting for her.

"There you are, Sakura." Hitsugaya said.

Sakura gave a small smile and looked away, placing her left hand on her right arm.

"Sakura… would you please…" he started to say, before Sakura cut him off.

"Whoops, look at the time. I think we'd better get going, now shouldn't we." Not waiting for an answer, Sakura spoke once more. "Let's split up and cover the next area and meet back here in ten minutes."

And with that, the brown-haired captain shunpo-ed off.

==x==

2 hours flew by like that. Whenever they met back up, Hitsugaya would try to start a conversation with Sakura before she would cut him off and speed off in another direction.

Now, Hitsugaya was waiting for his friend (again) at a new location. The area just behind District 59, which was the last district that they had to cover. He was standing on some sort of raised ground, overlooking a crystal clear lake. There were trees surrounding the area, cherry blossem trees to be exact, making the whole place seem very private. Just then, the white-haired captain spotted the 9th division captain walking over to him.

And this time, he wasn't gonna let her go so easily.

==x==

"Well now, I think we're done here, aren't we, Hitsugaya-taicho. I guess we should head back and report to Yamamoto sou-taicho…" Sakura started to walk in the opposite direction when she felt a hand grab her right arm. She was pulled back and soon found herself facing Hitsugaya.

"Sakura. Would you please stop running away?" Hitsugaya said, with a serious tone in his voice.

"I am not running away from anything!" Sakura protested, trying to free her hand from the grasp of the white-haired captain.

"Yes you are! And you know it." Hitsugaya said, tightening his grip on Sakura's arm.

Sakura tried desperately to free her arm. "Ok, so what if I'm running away? So what if it makes me feel safer and much better?"

"Baka!" Hitsugaya semi-shouted, releasing his grip on Sakura's arm. "You know it's not helping both of us, so why do you do it?"

Sakura stumbled a little by the suddenness of his action. Her mind was screaming at her to make use of the opportunity to run away, but her feet weren't listening to her. Instead, her heart was telling her to stay; that she had all along wanted this to happen, just so she could finally set her mind at ease.

Hitsugaya looked at his friend. She seemed to be cautious of him, yet she did not run away. He took that as a good sign.

Taking a deep breath, Hitsugaya asked quietly, in a tone that Sakura had not heard him use before. "Hear me out, ok?" His voice was warm and gentle, not anything like the cold hard one that he normally used.

Sakura was somehow soothed by the tone of his voice. Raising her head up to look at the 10th division captain, Sakura gave a small nod. "Fine," she finally uttered.

==x==

"What you heard me say that day… I didn't mean what you think I meant," he said.

"But, Hitsugaya-kun, you said so yourself. You didn't think I should be a captain. What more could that mean?" she argued.

"I meant… I meant that…" Hitsugaya was having a hard time trying to find the right words to use.

"Well…?"

"I… I just didn't want you to get hurt!" he exclaimed.

Sakura looked puzzled and cocked her head slightly to her left.

Hitsugaya took another deep breath. "I didn't want you to be in such dangerous situations that came with being a captain."

Sakura blinked. "You know, you remind me of Byakuya-san…" she said, before she could stop herself.

Hitsugaya looked shocked for a moment before smiling. "I guess I do, don't I?"

"Kinda. But Shiro-chan. You know perfectly well I'm capable of taking care of myself." She said, resuming the use of the nickname she usually used to address him.

"Yes, but what if… what if one day something happened?"

"Nothing will happen, I promise. Besides, I can defend myself."

At this, Sakura felt him grab her shoulders. "But what if something happens anyway?" he yelled, shaking her shoulders violently.

Realizing what he had done, Hitsugaya let go of Sakura and muttered an apology before looking at the ground.

"Shiro-chan, is… is there something you… you want to tell me?" she asked inquisitively.

The white-haired captain sighed and looked up. "Yeah… Truth is, Sakura… I… I like you. As more than just a friend. I've liked you ever since our last year in the Shinigami Academy."

Sakura was momentarily stunned. "Shiro-chan…"she started to say, but Hitsugaya held up a hand to stop her. "But I mean, if you choose to ignore me for the rest of your well, life, I can understand…"

Sakura shook her head violently. "Shiro-chan… I've liked you ever since our days in the academy as well… I just… was too scared to ask you about it. I mean, and then you became a captain and I thought that you would never like me too, because you were always so serious and…"

But she never got to finish her sentence.

All of a sudden, she felt Hitsugaya put his hands around her waist and pull her close to him. Then, he kissed her full on the lips.

Sakura's eyes widened for a moment as she looked at the emerald-eyed captain. She felt her eyes close and she kissed him back. Hitsugaya felt himself being pulled closer to the brown-haired girl. Not that he didn't enjoy the feeling.

After an entire minute that seemed to last forever, the two captains broke apart.

"Baka…" Hitsugaya whispered. "How would you know whether I liked you or not if you didn't ask?"

Sakura smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "How would I know that you were this dense? I mean, the signs were there, it was just up to you to put the pieces together."

"So now it's my fault? And besides, why couldn't you do the same for me?" Hitsugaya said, taking a step back.

"Hey, I never said it was your fault. Anyway, you always have the same serious face on everyday. How am I supposed to read between the lines?" she retorted.

"Fine. Let's just end it here alright? We should probably head back now. It's been a full 2 hours. The sou-taicho will be expecting us soon." Hitsugaya said, defeated.

Sakura nodded happily and the both of them started walking back towards Seireitei.

==x==

After reporting to Yamamoto that all was good in Districts 45 to 59, the two captains headed back towards the 10th division.

Hitsugaya opened the door to the tenth division's study and stepped inside. From the outside, Sakura could hear Matsumoto yelling.

"Taicho! You're back! Did you see Sakura-taicho-chan? Did you manage to talk to her?" she asked.

Hitsugaya sighed and stepped aside to let Sakura in. As soon as Matsumoto saw her, she squealed in delight. "Oh boy, you guys made up! I'm so happy for you guys!" Sakura immediately found herself being suffocated as the redhead pulled her into a hug.

"Rangiku-chan… can't breathe…" Sakura muttered.

Finally, the redhead lieutenant released her friend. "So… are you guys… together?" Matsumoto asked.

Sakura blushed but beamed anyway. "You could say that." Hitsugaya answered coolly, with a small smile on his face.

"I knew it! I knew you guys would end up together!" Matsumoto cooed, which ended up in a 2 minute talk by the redhead about how Hitsugaya and Sakura were perfectly meant for each other.

"It's just that both of you were too stupid to realize it!" she finished grandly. At the word 'stupid', Hitsugaya turned to face his subordinate and shot her a death glare.

The redhead woman put her and over her mouth and made a zipping action. Sakura giggled. Clapping her hands together, she spoke up. "Well now. I guess I should be going back to 9th. I left Hisagi alone long enough. Goodness knows what he might do, facing all the stacks of paperwork that came in the morning. Plus, he has to handle the Seireitei Communications paperwork as well. So, I better be goi-"

"Sakura-taicho-chan! Don't you want to spend time with Taicho?" Matsumoto said, pointing at her captain.

"If she has to go, just let her go, Matsumoto." The white-haired captain replied.

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, I gotta go, Rangiku-chan. Hisagi would probably die of stress if I don't return now."

Matsumoto pouted, but not before stepping aside to let Sakura exit through the door.

"See ya everyone!"

==x==

It had been another full two hours since Sakura had arrived back at her division. When she had got there, Hisagi was lying, face down on his desk, probably tired from all the work he was doing. Thus, Sakura found herself spending two hours finishing up his paperwork as well as her own.

"Damn this paperwork…" Sakura cursed under her breath. If she knew that a captain had to face mountains and mountains of paperwork everyday, she would probably have rejected the offer.

"_At least Hisagi helped you with some…" Kasumi's voice rang in her head._

"Yeah, I guess I owe him, big time."

"_Well, not that I want to change the subject, but…" _

"But what?"

And with that, Sakura found herself in her own mind, sitting on a lily-pad on a small pond. Kasumi was floating above the water's surface and her scales glistened in the moonlight.

"_Well now, congratulations." Kasumi said._

"For what?"

"_For finally becoming a couple with the guy. Took you guys long enough." Kasumi laughed._

Sakura smiled. "I guess we did, didn't we?"

"_I kept telling you to ask him, but would you listen? No you wouldn't… Anyway…told ya it would all work out." _

Sakura raised an arm to pet the dragon's head. "Thanks, Kasumi."

"_You're most welcome. You better go, Hisagi's stirring."_

Suddenly, Sakura found herself back in her study. She shot a glance at her lieutenant. Indeed, he was beginning to stir. Sakura grinned and shook her head before returning to her last remaining piece of paperwork. She had managed to finish all of Hisagi's work, after all, those that were for the Seireitei Communications were all calculations and stuff which didn't require prior knowledge to the group.

"Taicho? Is that you?" A very sleepy Hisagi asked, rubbing his eyes with his hands.

"No, it's a flying talking monkey. Of course it's me."

She heard him laugh to himself for a moment before resuming his usual composed self. "Taicho… did you finish the paperwork for me?" He asked, flipping through the stacks of paper that were stacked neatly on his table.

"No, the flying talking monkey did it. Baka… If I didn't do it, who did it then?" she retorted.

Just then, the door to the study opened, revealing a certain white-haired captain.

"Sakura… are you free right now?" he asked.

Sakura nodded as she quickly gathered her bunch of paperwork and stacked them at a corner of her desk. "I just need to deliver these to 1st. Is something wrong…?"

"Would you… would you like to visit Hinamori now?" he choked out.

Sakura was momentarily stunned. Visit Hinamori? Well, she could live with that.

"Sure…" she replied.

==x==

Emm297: Well there you have it! The apology scene didn't come out as I wanted it to, the picture in my mind was much more vivid. But beggar's can't be choosers, so I hope you liked chap 15 (the special number!) anyways!

Special thanks to AddictedtoBleach, KajiMori, Laughing Bandit D Royale, elena21, .Dropx for either reviewing or adding my story as a favourite or putting me under Author Alert! I love you guys! (I'm not yuri-inclined, by the way, so no worries there…)

Next up, chapter 16! (A/N: O.o the story's almost finished!)

Chapter 16: How will the two friends' visit to Hinamori turn out? Keep checking for updates!


	16. Hinamori, and the Monster Within

Emm297: Well, chapter 16 is finally here! As you guys know, Hitsugaya and Sakura went to visit Hinamori together! I wonder how that will turn out…  
Hitsugaya: Of course you'll know, you're the author baka!  
Emm297: It's rude to interrupt, Shiro-chan. Besides, why are you so grumpy? Sakura's already better to do the disclaimer parts. Shouldn't you be glad? Or don't tell me… it's mood swings! Oh my, my little Shiro-chan is experiencing puberty!

-eerie silence-

Sakura: I'm sorry, Hitsugaya and Emm-chan are currently outside on a hide-and-seek game. Apparently, Shiro-chan didn't quite like Emm-chan's last comment… Yikes, he's brandishing his Zanpakutou and getting ready to kill her. I better get this done fast so I can go help Emm-chan…

Well, Emm-chan does not own Bleach and its characters, that belongs to the awesome Tite Kubo. She only owns me, my Zanpakutou and its moves. Now, with that done, I shall go to Emm-chan's aid right now. See ya people!

==x==

"Sure…" she replied.

Hitsugaya remained expressionless as Sakura picked up her pile of paperwork. "Hisagi, I'll be off now, ok? If there's anything, just increase your reiatsu a little and I'll come back immediately. And I'll drop these off at 1st as well." She added, referring to the pile of paper on her hands.

Hisagi yawned and nodded at the same time. Sakura let out a tiny giggle before stepping out into the corridor and shutting the door.

"Can we make a stop at 1st? I'll drop these off." Sakura said.

The 10th division captain nodded and both of them started shunpo-ing towards 1st.

When they were almost reaching there, Sakura took a quick look at Hitsugaya. "I'm busy visiting a friend in the medical unit as a 'first date'. Geez, how lucky am I?" she thought sarcastically.

"_You're probably the 1__st__ girl to do that, so you should be lucky," came Kasumi's voice._

"Not helping here…" Sakura sighed mentally.

"I'll take that as a form of thank you." The blue dragon said, as they arrived outside the 1st division.

Sakura looked at Hitsugaya. "I'll drop these there and then we can go see Hinamori-chan."

"Yeah… You do that while I wait here."

And with that, Sakura shunpo-ed into the 1st division study. It was kinda big and everything, seeing as how it served as the admin office for the whole Gotei 13. There was a Shinigami with dark brown eyes sitting at the wooden table that was visible as soon as you entered the room.

"Toushime-taicho!" The shinigami greeted respectfully.

Not bothering to correct the Shinigami, Sakura handed her the stack of papers. "It's the 9th's paperwork that's due today."

The Shinigami nodded to signal that he would take care of the paperwork. Sakura smiled before heading back out to Hitsugaya.

"Shiro-chan, we can go now!" she said. The white-haired boy looked up and nodded as he led the way to Division 4.

==x==

As soon as they were in Division 4, they met Unohana and she pointed them in the right direction to Hinamori's 'ward'.

Slowly opening the door, Sakura entered the room. For a room that housed only one person, the room was pretty huge. The-size-of-Sakura's-study huge. But then again, the room was really empty. There was a rectangular table in the centre of the room, with a vase of yellow daisies on it. A jug of water, basin and washcloth was next to the vase. A bed was slightly behind the table and the headboard was touching the wooden wall behind it. Stepping aside to let her friend in, Sakura started walking to Hinamori's side.

Hinamori was sort of pale. She had a pale blue washcloth on top of her forehead. Her chest was wrapped in white bandage and a few drops of dried blood could still be seen. A light peach coloured blanket lay over the lower half of her body. She heard Hitsugaya close the door quietly and walk to the other side of Hinamori's bed. Looking up, she could see that Hitsugaya had his fists clenched and his hands were trembling slightly.

"He must still blame himself for letting Hinamori get hurt…" Sakura thought to herself, still looking at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya silently moved closer to Hinamori's bed and gently pulled the blanket higher up, so that it covered her the bandages on her chest.

==x==

It had been full three days since she had visited Hinamori. Which meant it had been a full three days since Sakura had… err… _confessed_ her feelings for the short white-haired captain. Sakura had not seen him since they had parted after visiting Hinamori. She had been to the 10th's study on a daily basis, but whenever she went there she ended up spending her time with Matsumoto. The redhead lieutenant had said that her taicho hardly ever came to the study anymore, leaving her with all the paperwork to do. So, since she had nothing much to do (Somehow the 9th division had no paperwork to finish up), Sakura always found herself in the 10th's study, helping Matsumoto finish up the never-ending mountain of work.

Today, Sakura was once more in the 10th's study, with a small stack of paperwork in front of her.

"Sakura-taicho-chan," Matsumoto suddenly said.

Sakura looked up and noticed that her friend was still writing away, never once taking her gaze off the paperwork in front of her. Which was something that Sakura found incredibly strange.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked.

"Taicho's with Hinamori-chan. Do you know that?" Matsumoto asked, gaze still on the paperwork.

"Yeah, I know."

"Then why don't you go and pull him away from her?"

Sakura cocked her head to one side. "Pull…pull him away?"

"Yeah. Pull him away. Don't tell me you don't mind taicho spending all his time with Hinamori. If I were you, I would mind."

"Of course I do!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's just…"

Matsumoto finally looked up from her work. "Just…?"

"It's just that… just that… It wouldn't be nice to drag him away from her, since he's still blaming himself for what happened to Hinamori..."

She heard Matsumoto sigh. "Taicho better appreciate you. I doubt there will be another girl who could be so open-minded about this kind of thing. Especially since you two just got together!"

Sakura gave a weak smile. Actually, this wasn't the main reason why she refused to go drag Hitsugaya away. Half of her wanted to, but the other half of her was scared. Scared of finding out what jealousy really felt like. Three days ago, when Hitsugaya and she were inside Hinamori's 'ward', Sakura began to notice something. When he was pulling up the blanket for Hinamori, Sakura felt her fists clench tightly and tremble. Somehow she felt angry at Hinamori, as well as at Hitsugaya. When she had gone back to her own room, Sakura locked the door and tried to straighten out her feelings. Finally she realized what it was.

_Jealousy._

And she was afraid of feeling it again.

==x==

Emm297: Well, there's chapter 16. It's not as long as the rest (this is one of the shortest I ever wrote) but I guess it will do. Cause the next part of the story just HAS to be in another chapter. It just feels… right. Ha, I guess you can call it Author's intuition. Haha. Well, hope you liked chapter 16 anyways!

In chapter 17, let's see what happens to Hitsugaya and Sakura. Wait and see.

THANKS TO ALL PEOPLE WHO PUT THE STORY ON STORY ALERT AS WELL AS THOSE WHO REVIEWED! YOU GUYS RULE!


	17. I Never had a Dream Come True

Emm297: Hey everyone, sorry once more for the immense long wait for chapter 16 previously. Tied down with a lot of things and had a major writer's block for some reason. It's like I lost all my "oomph" for fanficting. But don't worry, it's back now and I'm better than ever! I hope. I'm still sore from the previous attack by our dear Hitsugaya-chan, with some bruises on my knee and stuff, so I'm sentencing him to DISCLAIMER DUTY as punishment! YAY!

Hitsugaya: Do I really have to do this? I mean, _you_ started it last time. If I remember correctly.

Emm297: Just do it. Now.

Hitsugaya: Well… Emm-chan does not own Bleach and its characters, that belongs to the remarkable Tite Kubo. She only owns Sakura, her Zanpakutou and its moves. There, I said it.

Sakura: Great job, Shiro-chan!

Emm297: -nods- Now, let's get the ball rolling!

==x==

_(a/n: there is quite a big jump in the time setting for this chapter. Gomen Nasai if it caused any inconvenience or anything! But I don't wanna bore you guys with useless stuff and this time frame is good for this part of the story! Also, I started the story a little differently cause of the change in time frame! Gomen again!)_

_Jealousy._

Sakura didn't like it at all. If this was one of the terms and conditions of falling in love, then she really didn't want to. Fall in love, I mean. But too bad, she was and she would just have to deal with it. It had been a month and 12 days since she had visited Hinamori. It had also been one month and 12 days since she had a decent conversation with her boyfriend that didn't sound like this:

"_Evening, Hitsugaya-chan…"_

"_You too..."_

"_So… you're doing well right?"_

"_Yeah… Look, I'll see you later?"_

"_Oh… Alright then. See you."_

Whenever she met him, he would always leave halfway, just like that. And guess where he went?

To Hinamori's side, of course.

==x==

Sakura was sitting at her study desk, looking out the window. Hisagi had gone off to drop the finished paperwork and wouldn't be back till later as he had to go for a short mission in the real world with Kira and Renji.

It was evening and the sun was a brilliant pink. The clouds looked pinkish as well, all light and fluffy looking. Just as a flock of birds flew by the sky and into the horizon, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Sakura instructed.

The door slid open and Hitsugaya walked in.

"Hitsugaya-chan! What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, bewildered.

"Sakura… There's something I need to tell you."

Sakura walked towards him and narrowed her eyes. "What is it?" she asked. She noticed that he seemed to have a little trouble trying to get the words out of his mouth. Finally, after a long deep breath, Hitsugaya started to say something.

"Sakura… I… I think… no… ano…" Hitsugaya stuttered. Whatever he was trying to say was having a hard time trying to get out of his mouth.

"Just say it. I promise I won't get angry or sad or whatever." Sakura encouraged.

"Well…" he started.

The next sentence caught her totally off guard.

"_I think we should break up."_

==x==

Sakura stood there, momentarily stunned. "It's because of Hinamori, isn't it." She managed to say, using the calmest voice she could.

Hitsugaya nodded and looked at the floor. "I know this is unfair and everything, but… I need to take care of Hinamori. She needs me, especially now."

"_What about me? I need you too, you know!" _Sakura screamed in her head. Instead, she said calmly, "You need to stop blaming yourself, Hitsugaya-chan…"

Hitsugaya shook his head and looked at Sakura straight in the eye. Sakura immediately turned to look to her right. If his teal eyes ever met her icy blue ones, she knew that she would break down right there. "I can't stop blaming myself for what happened to her. I was partly responsible for it." He reiterated.

Sakura put her right hand over her left arm and clutched it tightly. "I understand. It's ok. If you want a break-up, then it's fine with me." She said, trying to sound cheerful. She looked at him and gave him the biggest smile she could at that moment. "Besides, it's not like I can't see you again."

Hitsugaya gave a small smile. "Arigato, Sakura."

And with that, he was gone.

Sakura let go of her left arm and shut the door and locked it. She felt herself tremble and her knees buckle under her. Sitting down on the cold hard wooden floor, Sakura found tears streaming down her face and dripping onto her lap. Her body shook as her the rate that her tears flowed at increased as she let go of every emotion she was feeling. Shocked at what had just happened, angry at herself for letting it happen and sad because he was the one who made it happen.

He. Hitsugaya Toushiro. The one who made her feel complete.

And the one who shattered her into a million pieces.

At the very thought of him, Sakura felt herself crying even harder.

Just then, a knock resounded throughout the room. Hastily wiping her tears and standing up, Sakura cleared her throat. "Who's there?" she called out.

"It's me." Matsumoto's voice drifted into the room.

Sakura unlocked the door and opened the door. Matsumoto immediately closed the door behind her and gave Sakura a tight squeeze. "I heard… I heard what happened. You see… standing behind your door… wanted to find taicho… couldn't leave after hearing …he was trying to say… hope you understand…" Sakura only caught bits and pieces of Matsumoto's words; her mind was still fuzzy from all that crying.

"Rangiku-chan… can't breathe…" she choked out. She felt Matsumoto let go of her and hold her by the shoulders instead. "Sakura-chan… I hope you know that I'll always be here for you, no matter what goes between you and taicho."

Sakura looked up and nodded weakly. "Rangiku-chan…" she whispered, before she threw herself at her friend and cried her heart out once more.

Matsumoto was shocked, but it only lasted a few mere seconds before she tightened their embrace.

==x==

In the twinkling of an eye, close to two months had flown by and Sakura found herself getting stronger each day. Since she had mostly nothing to do (she didn't want to go to the 10th, even to see Matsumoto as she knew who she would also see there and she didn't have anyone to spend her time with), Sakura mostly trained herself at the far end of Seireitei every single day, from 3 to 7. The rest of the day she devoted to doing paperwork. Occasionally she would train her squad as well, in both Zanjetsu and Kido. And they were also getting better with every passing day.

She was alone in her own room now, sitting on her bed and doing basically nothing. "I'm poofed out from today's training…" Today, she managed to perfect 'Way of destruction number 63, Twin Lotus Blue Fire Crash Down, without the incantation at all. Which meant that she had a 99.9% chance of hitting any target, because, basically, the opponent wouldn't know what was going to come at him next.

As she was about to plop down onto her bed, her gaze fell on a picture standing on her wooden chest of drawers.

A picture of her and Hitsugaya.

Even though Sakura saw him during those Captain meetings and everything, she managed to smile at him without getting a single tear in her eye. Occasionally they would exchange pleasantries, or they would just say 'hi' to one another. Sakura didn't look like it, but she was still hurting inside. For their sakes, she pretended that she had moved on, but she hadn't. Even though she was already trying her best.

Sakura walked over to the wooden drawers and sighed. She stretched out her right arm and placed the picture face-down. She didn't want to look at it, especially now.

Sakura looked out her window. The sky had turned a deep shade of crimson red and the sun had begun to set. Glancing at the clock, she realized that it was already about seven o'clock. She promised Matsumoto she would meet her at about 7.05pm. Sakura reached for her room keys and left the room.

==x==

Sakura sat on a huge stone, opposite Matsumoto. Neither of them had spoken since they sat down.

"Sakura-taicho-chan… you're still hung up over him aren't you?"

Sakura looked up. "No I'm not! See, I'm better now," she denied.

"Sakura-taicho-chan, I've known you ever since you arrived in Seireitei. You think I don't know when you are lying to me?" Matsumoto said.

"Fine…" Sakura said, defeated. "It's just that… I don't know…"

At this, Matsumoto perked up and jumped off her stone. "I know! I've got just the thing to make you feel better."

And with that, Sakura felt herself being dragged off her stone.

==x==

"Rangiku-chan… mind telling me what the heck we're doing here?" Sakura asked, hands on her hips. Apparently, Matsumoto had believed that going to a bar was the best thing to do.

"Aw… come on Sakura-taicho-chan! Don't be such a spoilsport!" Matsumoto whined, downing a glass of sake in one gulp.

"If this is a ploy to get me to pay for your drinks, I'm going to go off."

"Relax, it's not! Come on, I just wanted you to have a nice time! Besides, it's Friday karaoke night!" Matsumoto answered, as Sakura noticed the Shinigami singing on the stage.

Sakura sighed. "Fine…" They were sitting at a circular table, opposite each other. Matsumoto had another 2 glasses of sake in front of her, with 2 empty glasses beside them.

Just then, the song that a random Shinigami was singing ended and applause resounded throughout the bar. Sakura shrugged and applauded as well, even though she didn't hear whatever it was the Shinigami was singing.

"Sakura-taicho-chan, you should talk about it you know…" Matsumoto said, raising her glass to her lips once more.

"I don't want to talk about it."

At this point, the commentator walked up stage. "Well now, we are open to anyone who wants to come up here to talk or sing about anything. Any takers?"

Matsumoto's faced brightened considerably. "Well, since you don't want to talk to me about it, how about you talk to everyone else?"

Sakura's eyes went wide. "Rangiku-chan, what are you saying…"

Suddenly, Matsumoto grabbed Sakura's right arm and raised it up high. "Here, here she wants to go up stage!"

"Rangiku-chan, what are you doing?" Sakura hissed. But it was too late. A spotlight shone on her and everyone turned to look at who was going to be the next to go up stage.

"Trust me, you'll thank me for this someday." Matsumoto winked and pushed Sakura towards the stage.

Sakura took a gulp and headed up stage. She could hear whispers all around her.

"Hey isn't that Sakura-Taicho?"

"Yeah, I didn't know captains actually had time to come to such places…"

"Did you hear about what happened between her and Hitsugaya-taicho?"

"Yeah I thought it was so sad…"

Sakura was handed a list of songs. A particular one caught her eye. Turning to the commentator Shinigami, she pointed to the song and said, "Later on…"

==x==

Sakura walked up stage and tapped the microphone.

"Well, a friend of mine told me to come up here and talk to everyone since I wasn't willing to open up to her (at this, she glared at Matsumoto)… And I still don't see how that makes sense… since I wasn't gonna open up to her what makes her think that I'll open up to a whole crowd of Shinigami. But you know what? I'm starting to feel that this might be easier than I thought."

Sakura took a deep breath before continuing. "I suppose many of you heard what… went on between me and someone else. Anyway, I was thinking, instead of talking to all of you, I shall sing it out instead. I found a song that really describes how I feel right now, so… hope you guys will enjoy it anyway, cause this song really says a lot about how I feel, deep inside."

Sakura gestured towards the commentator Shinigami person, who nodded in response and clicked a few buttons on his display panel.

The beginning melody started to play. Sakura took in a huge breath and calmed herself before starting to sing.

_Everybody's got something  
That they had to leave behind  
One regret from yesterday  
that just seems to grow with time  
There's no use looking back or wondering  
how it should be now or could have been  
all this I know but still I can't find ways to let you go_

_I never had a dream come true  
Until the day that I found you  
Even though I pretend that I've moved on  
You'll always be my baby  
I never found the words to say  
You're the one I think about each day  
And I know no matter where life takes me to  
A part of me will always be with you_

At this point, a certain white-haired captain strolled into the bar, not paying attention to whoever was singing on stage. He looked left and right and finally located his lieutenant.

"Matsumoto… there you-"

Matsumoto put her fingers to her lips and pointed towards the stage. Hitsugaya frowned and turned towards the direction Matsumoto wanted him to look at. His eyes widened in surprise as he spotted his ex-girlfriend on stage singing. He forgot the reason why he came to find Matsumoto and instead, stood there listening to Sakura.

Sakura, however, did not notice what was going on over by her friend's table. She took in a deep breath and continued with her song.

_Somewhere in my memory  
I've lost all sense of time  
Tomorrow can never be  
Cause yesterday's all that fills my mind  
There's no use looking back or wondering  
How it should be now or might have been  
All this I know but still I can't find ways to let you go_

_I never had a dream come true  
Until the day that I found you  
Even though I pretend that I've moved on  
You'll always be my baby  
I never found the words to say  
You're the one I think about each day  
And I know no matter where life takes me to  
A part of me will always be _

While she was singing the last line of the chorus, Sakura looked towards Matsumoto's table, to look for some kind of thumbs-up sign or something. But instead, her gaze fell on Hitsugaya. A million thoughts ran through her mind, but still she kept on singing.

Looking at him straight in the eye, Sakura carried on with her song.

_You'll always be the dream that fills my head  
Yes you will, say you will, you know you will, oh baby  
You'll always be the one I'll never forget  
There's no use looking back or wondering  
because love is a strange and funny thing  
No matter how I try and try  
I just can't say goodbye_

_No no no no…_

_I never had a dream come true  
Until the day that I found you  
Even though I pretend that I've moved on  
You'll always be my baby  
I never found the words to say  
You're the one I think about each day  
And I know no matter where life takes me to  
A part of me will always be _

She added the last part in a whisper, looking at his teal eyes all the time.

_A part of me will always be with you…_

There was a loud outburst of applause and Sakura could feel tears welling up in her icy blue eyes. She hastily bowed and rushed down the stage. She ran towards her table and said, "Gomen nasai, Rangiku-san", and turned around. Her eyes met Hitsugaya's for a brief moment before she turned her head away and began to run out of the pub.

==x==

Hitsugaya watched her run out of the pub. Suddenly, he felt a jab on his elbow. Wheeling around, he saw Matsumoto pointing towards the door of the pub.

"You know, you really did hurt her that time… You should go find her." she stated, taking another sip of her drink.

Hitsugaya looked at his fukutaicho. All around him he heard whispers of the many present Shinigami.

"Isn't that Hitsugaya-taicho? What is he doing here?"

"Why is he still standing there? Shouldn't he go after Sakura-taicho?"

Suddenly, the whole room started yelling at him to go after Sakura.

"See? Everyone agrees with me. Go, taicho."

And without another word, Hitsugaya rushed off to look for the 9th squad captain.

==x==

Emm297: This is the end of chapter 17, folks! Sorry if I took super long to get it up though, I had some slight distractions from this story… Gomen Nasai everyone!

Thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed or added my story as a fav etc etc. YOU GUYS ROCK (again). YAY YOU!

Next chapter: Will Sakura and Hitsugaya make up? Or will one of them make things worse for the other? Stay tuned!


	18. A Pair of Helping Hands or Two

A/N: OMG OMG OMG I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR SO LONGGGGG...)

Emm297: Well, sorry for the EXTREMELY LONG LONG LONG WAIT! My laptop had a serious bug issue and it was down for a long time, during which I couldn't do this chapter. Gomen Nasai!

Sakura: Well then, we shouldn't waste time now, should we?

Emm297: Agreed. Hitsugaya-chan?

Hitsugaya: I'm still on disclaimer duty?

Emm297: Yes, so get on with it!

Hitsugaya: Emm-chan does not own Bleach nor its characters. She only owns Sakura, her Zanpakutou and its moves. Happy?

Emm297: Elated. Now, let's carry on!

==x==

And without another word, Hitsugaya rushed off to look for the 9th squad captain.

He rushed out of the bar and looked around. He caught a glimpse of a white piece of fabric behind a wall and quickly hurried after it.

As he turned the corner, he lost sight of the brown-haired Shinigami.

"Sakura!" He yelled out. The only thing he heard was his echo, bouncing off the tall walls to his left and right.

Hitsugaya let out a small sigh. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't regret breaking up with Sakura. Everytime he was in his study handling the paperwork, he would be picturing what she was doing at that very moment. Everytime he was in a training session, he would be thinking of the times when she was still in his squad. Everytime he was with Hinamori, his thoughts would somehow drift back to Sakura. He always wanted to have another chance to explain things to her, to get back together with her. But it seemed like she had already gotten over him. At captain's meetings, she would always be happy and cheerful, as if he didn't matter to her anymore. She would still talk to him in a friendly way, even if it was for a few seconds. There was nothing to hint that she hadn't got over the breakup. Why, just last week, he found her talking to Hisagi, blushing furiously all the time. And Matsumoto had even said that the brown-haired captain had probably gotten over him.

But then again, Matsumoto wasn't right 99% of the time.

He wanted to talk to her about them, the them they once were. But everytime he looked at her, he couldn't bear to. It just seemed so... wrong... to make Sakura think about the breakup once more. But if she had really gotten over it, why did she look at him that way while singing that song? Why did she run away after that?

Hitsugaya felt another sigh escape his lips. If only someone could draw him a map to tell him what he should do in situations dealing with girls...

Dealing with girls... That's it!

And with that, Hitsugaya felt the wind in his hair as he raced towards the center of Seireitei.

==x==

Kyoraku Shunsui was enjoying a cup of warm sake in his room, enjoying every last drop of it. He was about to refill his cup when suddenly...

"Kyoraku-taicho!" The door slid open to reveal a anxious looking Hitsugaya-taicho.

"My, my, Hitsugaya-san, to what do I owe you the pleasure?" Kyoraku asked, smiling.

"I... I... I need you to help me with something."

"If course I will, but first you need to tell me what I need to help you with."

"I need you to tell me how to win Sakura back."

==x==

Kyoraku's eyes widened for a moment before he reached for the bottle of sake on the table before him. Hitsugaya watched as the 8th squad captain refilled his cup and filled an extra cup as well.

"Well, now, Hitsugaya-san. I never thought you, of all people, would come asking me for advice." Kyoraku pushed the extra cup towards Hitsugaya and motioned for him to drink it.

"I don't take sake." The 10th squad captain said, pushing the cup away gently.

"You should. At least, now you should. It's best to get in the right mood when talking about the love of your life," Kyoraku answered, pushing the cup back towards the white-haired Shinigami.

"Well... If that's what you say, then I guess I could take a sip..." Hitsugaya said, raising the cup towards his lips. Suddenly, he felt a hand reach up to pull the cup away from him.

"Not now, later, when I tell you to."

Hitsugaya shrugged and placed the cup back onto the table. "Well... What now?"

"Ok. Firstly, you need to figure out what went wrong between the two of you. Was it because of you, or was it because of her?"

Hitsugaya hesitated. "It was... me."

"Well then. Now, all you have to do is try to win her back. Any ideas?"

"Well, if I knew of some, I wouldn't have to come here now, would I?" Hitsugaya snapped.

"Now, now, no need to get so worked up. Sometimes, I see a lot of similarity between you and Nanao-chan..." Kyoraku whined. "Ok, since you don't have any brilliant ideas, I'll give you some."

"Firstly, you need to be sincere about winning her back. Tell her you're sorry for everything that happened between the both of you and that you sincerely regret it."

==x==

And so, the 'Love Lessons 101' session ended, as quickly as it had begun.

"Well now, Hitsugaya-san. I suggest you take a sip of that sake right now. To get you into the right mood to remember all the things we covered." Kyoraku suggested.

Hitsugaya nodded and took his cup and drank a gulp. Immediately he regretted it. The taste of the sake was super strong, something like what Matsumoto would take, not him. His face scrunched up as he took a glance at Kyoraku, before he felt dark circles clouding his eyes. That was the last thing he saw as he passed out.

Kyoraku smiled to himself. "NANAO-CHAN!" He called out.

Almost immediately, a bespectacled woman slid the door open. In her arms was a book and she looked annoyed that she had been called to her captain's side. "Yes, Taicho? And before you say anything, I am not going to clean up your-" She stopped mid-sentence as she noticed the 10th squad captain lying on the floor.

"Taicho! What did you do to Hitsugaya-taicho?" She exclaimed, closing the door behind her as she entered the room.

"I didn't do anything. The sake did. And before you ask, no, I didn't call him here to have a slumber party with me. I'm far too busy (at this, Nanao let out a small snort) and he came here on his own accord. He wanted me to teach him how to win back Sakura-chan. Anyway, it was all part of my ingenious plan." Kyoraku explained to his lieutenant, who was currently kneeling beside the white-haired captain.

"So... what do you want me for?" Nanao questioned, raising her eyebrow.

"I need you to..."

==x==

Sakura was in her study, pacing up and down. She had currently exhausted her supply of tears and had decided to just pace up and down the room. Hisagi was away in the fourth squad, where he decided to go after his tiring mission, in which Renji's carelessness had almost cost him his right leg. Sakura had to admit, the long gash on Hisagi's right leg was really serious.

Just as Sakura sat down onto her chair, there was a knock on the door.

"Sakura-taicho, are you in there?" Sakura heard Nanao's voice float through the door.

"Yea, I'm here!" Sakura replied, hurrying to open the door. "Well then, Nanao-chan, what's wrong?"

"It's... it's..." Nanao stuttered.

Sakura felt a wave of panic in her. Did something happen to Hisagi? Or Matsumoto? "Nanao-chan, just say it."

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho."

==x==

"Hitsugaya-taicho? Did something happen to him?" Sakura asked, trying to sound not the least bit overly-concerned.

"This is gonna be tough... I hope Taicho knows what he's doing..." Nanao thought, once she had seen Sakura's nonchalant reaction to the news. "Hitsugaya-taicho has passed out in the 8th division." Nanao stated.

"HE WHAT?" Sakura yelled.

"He passed out in 8th division. I'm not sure what he was doing though. I just came to relay the message." Nanao lied smoothly, adjusting her glasses.

"I'll be right back." And with that, Toushime Sakura shunpo-ed off in the direction that was the 8th division.

Nanao stared at the cloud of dust Sakura had created while speeding off. "Well... at least Taicho was right about her reaction..." And with that, Nanao shunpo-ed off as well. She still hadn't finished her book.

==x==

"Kyoraku-san! Is Hitsugaya-kun alright?" Sakura asked, sliding the door open with great force. Ever since the breakup, Sakura had found it hard to continue using Hitsugaya's first name like she normally would.

"He's over there." Kyoraku nodded to his right and Sakura noticed the white-haired captain lying on his back.

Sakura rushed to his side and knelt down on one knee. "What happened?"

"Well... He was kind of depressed and everything and somehow he came over here... And I placed my cup of sake on the table... And I guess he was so moody that he just took my cup and drank the whole lot of it..." Kyoraku grinned sheepishly, even though he knew that that wasn't what had happened at all.

"Shoot... He can't hold his alcohol that well..." Placing a hand on Hitsugaya's forehead, Sakura frowned. "Looks like he has a slight fever..."

"Sakura-chan. How about you take Hitsugaya-san with you. I'm not sure I can do anything, and Nanao has her hands tied with paperwork." He didn't bother mentioning the 4th squad as an alternative though, and was crossing his fingers in hope that Sakura wouldn't think of the 4th squad as well.

"I guess I could... Alright, I'll take him then."

Kyoraku smiled and helped place the 10th squad taicho on Sakura's back as the girl crouched down onto the cold wooden floor. Standing up, Sakura thanked the 8th squad taicho and left the 8th squad quarters silently.

Looking at the Sakura's retreating figure, Kyoraku let out a sigh. "Hitsugaya-san, I've done all I can. Now, it's up to you."

==x==

Sakura walked towards her own room in her division. She knew that Matsumoto would be still partying at the bar and would be too busy to come down to help with Hitsugaya. She didn't have his room keys as well, so bringing him back to 10th wasn't an available option. So the only thing Sakura could think of was bringing him back to her room.

Placing the 10th squad taicho on her bed carefully, Sakura stepped into her bathroom and retrieved a shallow bucket of water and a cold wet cloth. Sakura arranged Hitsugaya so that his head was now resting on her pillow. She pulled the covers over him and gently put the cloth on his head.

"Hitsugaya-kun..." she whispered, removing a bit of stray hair from the boy's forehead and pulling it to one side. She breathed out and pulled a chair towards the bed. She made sure the cloth was securely placed on her friend's head before sitting down.

Without knowing it, Sakura had fallen asleep.

==x==

Hitsugaya's eyes flickered open. "Where am I?" He asked himself, looking at the unfamiliar ceiling on top of him. He felt something cold on his forehead and reached up to touch it. He realized that it was cloth. "Who put that there...?" He wondered. He removed the cloth and sat up, his eyes adjusting to the darkness that surrounded him.

He blinked hard. "Much better," he said. It was then when he noticed that Sakura was beside him, apparently asleep on her chair. Her head was bowed down and her arms were folded in front of her chest. He noticed both their captain's haori perched on what looked like a coat stand beside the door.

Hitsugaya smiled unknowingly as he placed the pillow underneath Sakura's crossed arms. As if on cue, Sakura stirred and Hitsugaya backed away instinctively.

Sakura's icy blue eyes met the teal coloured ones and she smiled a small smile.

"Hi." Sakura managed to choke out.

"Hi." He replied.

==x==

emm297: WELL, THERE'S CHAPTER "OH-MY-GOSH-THAT-WAS-SUCH-A-LONG-WAIT" 18! Hope you liked it. I know it's not worth the long 'hiatus' that this story went through, but believe me, if my computer wasn't so berserk, this chap would probably have been there forever already. GOMEN NASAI! I'M EXTREMELY SORRY!

Next chapter (let's hope it won't take too long...): Will they finally make up? And if they do, what other challenges are they gonna face?


	19. Sake, Fourth, and the Invite

Emm297: Well here I am once again, with chappie 19! SORRY FOR LONG WAIT, I HAD EXAMS THE PAST WEEK AND I HAD TO STUDY LIKE CRAZY… So… here we go! Shiro-chan?

Hitsugaya: It's still me?

Sakura: Shiro-chan, you'd better do it quick.

Hitsugaya: (sighs) Fine. Emm-chan does not own Bleach, its characters or plot. She only owns Sakura, her Zanpakutou and its moves. There. I'm finished.

Emm297: Glad to hear it. Let's get on with the show!

==x==

"Hi." He replied.

A moment of awkward silence passed as the two Shinigami captains stared at the area beneath them. For Hitsugaya, it was the bed and for Sakura, it was the chair. The room was eerily silent. Just then, a gust of cold wind blew into the room through the open window.

"So…" Sakura asked, momentarily breaking the silence. She fiddled with her thumbs and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I think I should get another towel for you…" Sakura said, getting up from her seat. Her chair made a small screeching sound when it rubbed against the wooden floor. Just as she was going to take a step towards the bathroom, she felt Hitsugaya grab her right wrist.

"Sakura, wait. We… we need to talk." He said, looking into her icy blue eyes all the while.

Sakura stared for a moment. She averted her gaze and pulled her hand back. "Can't that wait till you get… better?" she asked gently.

"No. It has to be now."

Sakura took a deep breath before turning back to him. She plopped down onto the chair and exhaled. "Fine. You want to talk? Talk now." She demanded, looking into Hitsugaya's eyes.

Hitsugaya was somehow frozen the moment her eyes met his. He tried to open his mouth, but no words came out. He tried for another two times, but still, he couldn't hear anything come out of his mouth.

"Well? You wanted to talk, so I'm here! Hurry up!" Sakura commanded impatiently.

Hitsugaya gulped. He never expected her to be so hostile towards him… When he pictured this scene she would be all quiet and stuff like that…

"Well? If you don't have anything to say, I'm going off. I need my sleep and I don't think I can get it by sleeping on a chair." Sakura stood up abruptly and she made her way towards the door.

Just as she was about to open the door, Sakura stopped. Without turning back, she said, "Hitsugaya-kun, there's some food in the small kitchen behind if you're hungry. And don't feel bad about taking my room for the night."

Sakura removed her haori from the coat stand and placed it over her shoulder. She opened the door and walked outside. Just before the door closed behind her, Hitsugaya sworn he had heard her say something.

"Goodnight, Hitsugaya-kun."

==x==

As soon as the door closed and the 'click' sound was heard, Hitsugaya got up and went towards the wall.

"What kind of useless guy am I? I can't even do something like that right," he said as he said as he banged his fist against the wall, causing the drawer that was in front of the wall to shake. Hitsugaya heard a small 'bang' sound and he looked up. There was a picture that had fallen flat-down.

He gently picked the picture up and looked at the photo. It was a photo of himself and Sakura (refer to chap 17, it's the same photo). In the background, there was a huge cherry blossom tree and Sakura and Hitsugaya were standing right in front of it. Hitsugaya smiled.

If only he didn't go and mess it up.

Sighing, he walked back over to the bed and sat down. "What's the use of Kyoraku-taicho teaching me all that crap and I can't even use it?"

All of a sudden, Hitsugaya had a major light-bulb moment.

==x==

Meanwhile, back at the 9th division's study, Sakura plopped down onto her chair. She swiveled around three times before stopping.

"_You know, I think you could have handled that a lot better than what you did," came Kasumi's voice._

"I know, but I was freaking out and I didn't want to be alone with him and I didn't think that I could bear another second in that room and…" Sakura rambled, making very… exaggerative hand gestures.

"_Ok, ok! I get the point." Kasumi interrupted._

"Gomen Nasai… But I just really don't want to face him now."

"_Well, it's your choice."_ And with that, Kasumi's voice faded into the back of Sakura's mind.

Just then, a knock resounded throughout the room.

==x==

Sakura was greeted by a loud "TOUSHIME-TAICHOOOOO!" the moment she slid open the door. There stood Matsumoto, looking sort of drunk. In her right hand was a bottle of sake.

"TOUSHIME-TAICHO, DO YOU -hic- WANT TO -hic- GO TO THE -hic- BAR WITH ME -hic- AGAIN?" Matsumoto asked, swaying back and forth like a tree in the night breeze.

"Rangiku-chan, I think you should probably sit down…" Sakura said, trying to steady her friend by the shoulders.

"NONSENSE! I DON'T NEED TO SIT DOWN -hic- I NEED TO GO -hic- DRINK MORE -hic- SAKE! TO THE -hic- BAR!" Matsumoto said, punching her left fist in the air in a "superman" pose.

"Rangiku-chan, I really think you should come in…" Sakura said, concerned.

"NO I DON'T -hic- WANT TO! ARE YOU COMING -hic- WITH -hic- ME -hic- OR NOT-hic-?"

Sakura was about to use her Kido to restrain her friend, but as soon as Matsumoto finished her sentence, she fainted.

"Thank goodness for fast reflexes…" Sakura thought aloud, as she supported Matsumoto using her two hands.

"_Yeah, but where you gonna leave her?" Kasumi's asked._

"Looks like I won't be able to sleep on the couch now…" Sakura replied, placing Matsumoto on the soft piece of furniture.

"_You know, sometimes I think that you're too nice." Kasumi sighed._

"No, it's just that you're too mean." Sakura answered jokingly.

"_Hey, if that's how you treat your Zanpakutou, something that's supposed to be part of your soul, I wonder how you treat your division."_

"Don't worry, I treat them better than I treat you." Sakura laughed.

"_Well, where are you going to sleep then? You can't possibly sleep on the chair right, after all, if I recall, the reason you left your room was because you couldn't sleep on a chair?"_

"I just said that to get away. Besides, I don't think I can sleep now, not with a snoring Rangiku-chan over there." Sakura said, making mental gestures at her redhead friend.

"_Suit yourself; I'm going to rest now. See ya!" And with that, Sakura couldn't hear her Zanpakutou's voice anymore._

Shaking her head, Sakura went to sit back on her swivel chair. She yawned and put her head on the wooden table before her.

==x==

It was already morning when Sakura opened her eyes. Stretching her two arms out in front of her, Sakura breathed in. Her eyes scanned the room. Where was she?

"You're in the study, baka." Kasumi said.

"I am? But wh-" Sakura was about to say, when she remembered the very reason she couldn't sleep in the comfort of her own room.

Because someone was currently occupying it.

Sakura got up and began to walk towards the couch. That's when she noticed that the couch was empty. "Wait, where's Rangiku-chan?" she wondered. A piece of pink paper on the coffee table before the couch caught her eye.

_Dear Sakura-taicho-chan,_

_Thank you for last night. I hope I didn't say anything too stupid. _

_I've left for the 10__th__ division study. Who knows what Taicho will do without me?_

_Rangiku-chan_

"Well, I guess I better get a move on too. Hisagi's still in 4th and that leaves me with all the work to do…" Sakura groaned. She turned around and shunpo-ed towards her room.

==x==

"Let's hope he's gone…" Sakura mumbled as she slowly turned the doorknob to her room. The door let out a small creak as she pushed it open bit by bit. Peeking through the small gap, Sakura looked inside. There was no sign of the white-haired taicho.

"Thank goodness." Sakura said as she stepped into her room. The bed was done neatly and the chair was pushed back to its original position. It didn't even seem that Sakura had someone in her room last night. She changed into a fresh new set of Shinigami robes, captain's haori and went to splash some cold water on her face.

Feeling refreshed, Sakura smiled and stepped out of the room.

"Well, I guess I should start work!" she said, with as much enthusiasm as she could. Unfortunately, none came out.

Shrugging, she shunpo-ed off to her study once more. Looking inside, she saw a fresh pile of paperwork waiting for her on the table.

"Sometimes I really thank my stars I wasn't put in the 1st. Doing paperwork is one thing but filing and sorting them? That's another story." Sakura thought, as she sat down onto her chair.

Picking up a pen, she tilted her head to the left and right before reaching over to the mountain of paperwork in front of her.

==x==

It had been 2 hours since Sakura had started her paperwork. She had managed to finish at least three-quarters of it and had decided to finish the rest the next day. After all, the heap of paperwork was only due in three days. Getting off her chair, she made a decision to go visit her lieutenant.

"Should I bring anything?" she asked Kasumi.

"_Yeah, you could bring the left over paperwork for him to do. After all, he might be bored over there, lying in bed all day…"_ came the reply.

"Oh haha, as if I'm that heartless. He's been slaving off this division since even before I came here." Sakura retorted, rolling her eyes.

"_Well then, since you're that noble, you might want to bring a bunch of flowers or something."_

"Flowers? For a guy? Are you out of your mind? I mean, I could relate if you asked me to bring a fruit basket or something for the guy to eat, but flowers? Now that's a new one." Sakura laughed.

"_Never mind, ignore me. Sheesh, what should a dragon do when it's got a very unsupportive mistress?" Kasumi sighed._

"I don't know, find another one?"

"_I would love to, but I can't, can I?"_

"Aww… I feel so bad for you." Sakura said sarcastically. "Well, since I don't have a basket of fruits with me at the moment, I guess I should just go now." Sakura said, while walking over to the door.

==x==

Sakura arrived at the 4th division moments later. She walked up to the main office and spotted a female Shinigami behind a desk, furiously scribbling away on a piece of paper.

"Excuse me, may I know where Lieutenant Hisagi is?" she asked politely.

"Down the corridor, fourth door on the right." The Shinigami answered without looking up.

"Arigato," Sakura thanked, before she headed in the direction that the Shinigami had asked her to.

"Now let's see. Fourth door on the right…" she noted as she walked by the first door on the right. "Aha, here it is!" she exclaimed as she reached the fourth door.

She knocked lightly on it and slowly slid it open.

"BANG!" A huge sound echoed through the four walls. Sakura hurriedly entered the room. There, Ikkaku was lying on the floor, with Renji on top of him.

"Abarai-kun, isn't it enough that you made me break a leg? Must you make Ikkaku break his as well?" Hisagi asked, looking at the two Shinigami lying on the floor. He looked up and spotted Sakura. "Sakura-taicho!" Yumichika, who was standing in the corner, turned his head to the door. Ikkaku and Renji looked up as well.

It was hard not to laugh at the scene before her. "Taicho, why are you here?" Hisagi asked.

"Can't I come to visit my friend? Besides, I brought you some paperwork to do because I figured that you would be bored!" Sakura chirped.

"Sakura-taicho, you can't be serious." Yumichika said, flipping his hair.

"Nah, of course I'm kidding." Sakura answered, much to the relief of Hisagi. "Anyway, when will you be out?"

Hisagi shrugged. "Probably another three days or so. That's if _someone_ doesn't try to break my leg again like he did this morning…" Hisagi said, glaring at Renji.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault that I tripped! _Someone_ had to go flip his "beautiful, silky" hair in front of me and made me gag so much that I stumbled." Renji said, looking at Yumichika.

"It's not my fault either. If Ikkaku over there wouldn't have to insult my beautiful hair, I wouldn't have to flip it or anything!"

Sakura shook her head as Ikkaku retorted back. Soon, the whole room was in chaos, with everyone speaking their minds. Sakura only managed to catch "Hisagi… Hair… Bathroom… Bed… Red hair… Pretty… Leg…" from the confusion that was going on in the room.

"HISAGI, I'M GOING BACK NOW!" Sakura yelled out, trying to make herself audible over the ruckus everyone was making. Without waiting for an answer, Sakura left the room, making sure to shut the door extremely tight so that people wouldn't hear them.

==x==

"Wow, I think my eardrums are damaged now…" Sakura said, rubbing her right ear. She was in her division and was walking towards the study.

Sliding open the door, she made her way to her desk. Suddenly she noticed something different. Very different. When she left, everything was in a mess. The paperwork was all over her table, with files on top of them to make sure they didn't fly away. There were pencils and pens strewed all over the files, even though the pencil holder was right at the corner of the table.

But now… the table was completely tidy. The pencils and pens were all on their proper holder, the files were in her shelf nearby and the paperwork was sorted into two piles. One pile looked taller than the other. Looking at the piles, she noticed that the shorter one was a pile with all the paperwork that she didn't do in the morning. Taking a closer look at that pile, she noticed that the paperwork was already done.

"But I didn't do this… It couldn't have been me." Sakura thought to herself. She moved behind her desk and noticed a light blue piece of paper sticking out from under the shorter pile of paperwork. Sakura picked it up and read it.

_Sakura,_

_Please meet me at the sparkle lake tonight at 9. It's urgent._

_Hitsugaya _

_P.s: I hope you don't mind the fact that I helped you tidy up. I just couldn't bear to see your table in such a mess. And I helped you do the paperwork, so all you need to do is look through and sign on it._

Sakura looked back at her desk and put the piece of paper back on her table. The sparkle lake, as she and Hitsugaya liked to call it, was their 'special' place. It was located just nearby the tenth squad quarters. It was surrounded by tall trees and had a marvelous sparkling crystal lake in the middle of it.

They had found that place not long after they entered the 10th division by chance. They had stumbled across it one night when they were on their way back to the barracks. While they were walking, Sakura suddenly slipped and rolled down a hill, which led to the lake. Since then, whenever they felt like they needed some quiet time or needed somewhere to practice, the two of them would choose that area to go to.

Sakura smiled unknowingly to herself. Good times, good times.

"Should I go meet him tonight?" she wondered.

"_What's stopping you?" Kasumi asked._

"I… I don't know… I just… don't want to know what he wants to tell me. What if he wants to talk about… _that_?" Sakura asked worriedly. She was talking about the break-up.

"_You never know what he might tell you. Besides, you should make use of this chance to scream at him, tell him every little emotional roller coaster you've ridden on since the break-up."_

"What if I don't want to?"

"_You know as well as I do that you want to do it. I'm part of your soul. I can tell, you know." Kasumi stated._

"Fine… I'll go… But if I regret it or I run away half-way through, don't blame me."

==x==

Emm297: O.O, so Sakura is going to meet Hitsugaya! I wonder what will happen?  
Hitsugaya: You ask the dumbest questions. You're the AUTHOR. You're supposed to know what happens! Emm297: I'm the dumb authoress. Live with it.

Thanks to AddictedtoBleach, KajiMori, Laughing Bandit D Royale, Yorukirin, elena21, charmedlover101 and crimsonmoondolphin for either reviewing or adding my story as a fav or story alert! THANK YOU THANK YOU! Sorry if I missed anyone out!

Next chapter: What is Hitsugaya gonna tell Sakura over by the lake? Where they once shared many happy memories? Will the lake turn into a place that holds the worst memory of all? Or will it stay as one of the happiest places in the whole of Seireitei?

P.s: I enabled anonymous reviews, so please please please review! You don't have to have an account on to do it! Just click the review button! Pleaseeeee! It makes me happy! :D

Next chap will come out as soon as possible! My exams are OVER, so I've got time to write write write! Yay!


	20. Crystal lake

Emm297: Hey everyone, here's chapter 20! YAY! Shiro-chan is currently doing his (or rather, Matsumoto's) paperwork, so he is MIA (missing in action) right now. Thus, Sakura will cover for him today!

Sakura: Hai, Emm-chan! So… the usual. Emm-chan does not own Bleach nor its characters. She only owns me and my Zanpakutou and its moves.

Emm297: Now that that's done, let's get on with chapter 20, shall we?

==x==

"Fine… I'll go… But if I regret it or I run away half-way through, don't blame me."

And with that, Sakura left the study, hoping to find a place to practice her kidou to pass the time.

==x==

Meanwhile, in the 10th division, a certain captain was sitting at his table, staring at the heap of paperwork before him. As much as he wanted to finish the work, Hitsugaya didn't have the motivation to do it. He was too busy thinking about the 9th division taicho.

He looked out his window. He wondered if Sakura would really turn up at the lake later on. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't, but he really hoped that she would show up. There was a whole list of things he wanted to say to her, not to mention the thing that he had been working on for the whole of last night.

Just as he turned to face his table, he noticed the sudden increase of Sakura's reiatsu. He turned swiftly to face the window once more, but once he figured out that she was just training, he turned back towards his work. Even though he really wanted to go over to just watch her train, he resisted the urge to do so. After all, he _was_ going to see her later on.

_Wasn't he?_

==x==

Sakura walked back towards her division. She had just finished her dinner of ramen, which she ate over at the sushi bar. Matsumoto had practically dragged her off to "go dig into something delectable".

Sakura sighed, as she looked at the many hordes of Shinigami running about the place, trying to finish their jobs so that they could retire early. Nodding to those who had greeted her, Sakura looked at the huge clock-tower in Seireitei. It was already 8.55pm.

"I guess I better get a move on…" she thought, as she flash-stepped towards the place she was supposed to meet Hitsugaya.

==x==

2 guards were situated at the front of the 10th division quarters. Sakura silently approached them and noticed that they were snoozing.

"I better tell Rangiku-chan to step up on security…" she joked to herself, as she side-stepped past them.

The division was quiet, with not much activity going on. Sakura managed to get past anyone without being noticed.

Once she was out of the division quarters, she took a deep breath. She had not gone this way for a long long time. She looked up. The sky was dotted with sparkling stars, and the moon was round and full. Looking back straight ahead, Sakura exhaled. It was time to face him.

==x==

_Meanwhile…_

Hitsugaya was walking up and down, his face an expression of anxiousness and anxiety.

"What if she doesn't show? What if she decides to run away the moment our eyes meet?" he wondered.

"_Relax, she'll be here." Hyorinmaru assured._

At the sound of his Zanpakutou's voice, Hitsugaya calmed down. For a moment.

"Wait! What if she doesn't like me anymore?"

_Hyorinmaru groaned. "She still does." _

Hitsugaya shook his head, as he continued pacing up and down.

Just then, he heard the rustle of leaves as someone tried to pass through the bushes that led to the lake.

Hitsugaya felt his heartbeat stop, as Sakura emerged from the bushes.

"Hi," she said, as she gave him the best smile she could muster.

"There's… a twig in your hair." Hitsugaya muttered, pointing to her hair. Sakura let out a "oh!" and hurried to remove it.

Looking at Sakura remove the twig from her hair, Hitsugaya thought, "She's still so beautiful… Even after all this time she never fails to make my heart stop…"

==x==

Sakura dropped the twig onto the floor as she took two steps forward. "So… what is it that you wanted to… tell me?" she asked.

"Err…" was all that came out of Hitsugaya's mouth, as he looked at the floor.

Sakura rolled her eyes. And she was expecting something good from her ex-boyfriend. Talk about a major déjà vu.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, she saw that Hitsugaya had already lifted his head.

He felt his heart race as he felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down his forehead. He was about to make the hugest apology ever, and here he was feeling all worried and nervous. He looked up and his teal eyes met Sakura's icy blue ones. Suddenly, a surge of energy flowed through him and he felt his nervousness dissipate.

"Sakura, I know that I was being unfair to you by… breaking up with you back then for Hinamori's sake…" he said. Sakura was about to say something to counter this when Hitsugaya hushed her up. "Ssh… let me finish this first. I realize I was being unfair, but now I realize that… that you are… the one that's most important to me."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Is he… apologizing to me…?" she wondered, as Hitsugaya continued. "Sakura, I don't mind if you don't… don't… take me back, but… I would like to tell you now, before I don't get the chance." Hitsugaya took in a huge sharp breath and exhaled. His eyes bore into hers as he said the three words that Sakura had wanted him to say the whole time.

"I love you."

==x==

Sakura bit her lower lip as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. Hitsugaya didn't notice this, and carried on. "Toushime Sakura, I love you, and I don't mind if you don't like me back, but I really need to tell you this. I'm sorry for breaking your heart and I'm sorry for causing you all that hurt. I'm really really… sorry." Hitsugaya gulped, as he waited for a response from Sakura.

Just then, a small hiccup was heard and Hitsugaya noticed Sakura's shadow vibrating. Moving closer to her, he noticed that she was crying. Alarmed, he rushed towards her and held her by the shoulders.

"Sakura? Sakura, are you alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

Sakura looked up. Her blue eyes were still clear and with only a hint of redness. She bit her lip again as she shook her head slowly. "No, I'm not alright," she said, as she removed his arms from her shoulders.

Hitsugaya looked surprised by her actions. Sakura let out a few more sobs before continuing. "Of course I'm not alright. How is it that one moment you break my heart and the next I'm going crazy over you? How is it that one moment I'm feeling this dread and the next I feel complete bliss when you hold me? How is it that one moment you hurt me so much and the next you come back and make it feel like nothing happened at all? How, how, how, how?" She screamed, as the tears flowed freely down her face. She threw herself at Hitsugaya, and placed her two fists on his shoulder. Hitsugaya was taken aback by the suddenness of this, but he still smiled and placed his arms around her.

Sakura let go of all the hurt she was burying in her heart as she cried and cried. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you…" she murmured, as she hit Hitsugaya with the little strength that was in her. Hitsugaya held her closer and tighter as she continued to hit him. Soon, it died down and her crying slowed down until it was no more.

Pulling himself away from her, Hitsugaya held Sakura at arm's length with one arm and using the other, he placed Sakura's two arms around him. He brushed away a stray strand of hair from her forehead and smiled at her. Sakura was still wearing a sad expression on her face, but Hitsugaya knew how to fix that.

He leaned in slowly and gently as he held her closer to him. When his lips met hers, Sakura felt a spark run through her body and she returned the kiss. Suddenly, she pulled back.

Hitsugaya was quite shocked and looked at her intently, wondering if he did something wrong.

"Wait, what about Hinamori?" she whispered.

"Hinamori who?"

"Good enough for me," she replied, as she leaned in to close the distance between them once more, savouring every taste of his lips.

==x==

Sakura awoke the next day to the sound of birds chirping. Opening her eyes slowly, she looked around. Blue sky, trees and a crystal lake…. WAIT! Crystal lake and trees? Sakura shot up and looked around again. No doubt, this was their special spot. Her mind was fuzzy as last night's events came back to her. Looking over her elbow, she saw a Hitsugaya lying there, still fast asleep. She smiled as she removed her captain's robe and positioned it over his stomach.

Just then, he stirred and Sakura saw him rub his head. "Ohaiyo, sleepy-head. Had a good sleep?" she asked, as he sat up. Hitsugaya shook his head groggily, as he opened his eyes slowly.

"GAH!" He exclaimed, as he noticed how close his face was to Sakura's.

"What?" she inquired, as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry, it's just that I need some time to get used to this…" he answered.

Sakura smirked. "Well then, I have a good idea how to get you used to it." And with that, Hitsugaya felt Sakura give him a light kiss on the lips.

Hitsugaya gave a small smile. "That, I can get used to."

"Well… I would hate to ruin this perfect moment, but Hisagi was supposed to be back last night and I wouldn't want him to over-stress himself on his first day back…" Sakura said, leaning on his shoulder.

"What about me? I'm over-stressed too…" Hitsugaya said playfully.

"You? Over-stressed? I think not." Sakura laughed as she stood up. Hitsugaya followed suit and held her hand tightly.

"Come on, Hitsugaya-chan… I've got to go…" Sakura tried, unsuccessfully, to remove her hand from his grasp.

"Not unless you agree to do something."

"Fine, but you have to let me go."

"Ok. You have to promise to drop by at my study once you're done with your work." Hitsugaya instructed.

Sakura smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "Of course," she replied, "Now, I have to make a move."

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and flash-stepped off, with Hitsugaya trailing a few metres after her as well.

==x==

It had been two weeks. Two blissful weeks. Sakura's mood was considerably better, and so was Hitsugaya's. He didn't even complain when Matsumoto arrived late for work (yet again) and didn't do her work. Matsumoto took this as a good yet suspicious sign and therefore went to ask Sakura if she knew anything about it. Needless to say, by taking one quick look at Sakura's happy attitude, she figured out what was going on. And within seconds, almost everyone knew about their patch-up.

Reaction number 1: Matsumoto.

"_I knew you guys would get back together! It was just a matter of time, and all you guys had to do was to open your eyes and take a look in your hearts. Well, not so much you, but taicho really needed to do some soul-searching. Anyway, I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!"_

Reaction number 2: Yumichika.

"_At least he's worthy of your beauty."_

Reaction number 3: Ikkaku.

"_At least you've got him back."_

Reaction number 4: Hisagi.

"_Good for you, taicho."_

Reaction number 5: Kyoraku.

"_Aah, so it looks like Hitsugaya-san came through, eh?"_

Reaction number 6: Nanao.

"_Sakura-taicho, I'm really sorry for that night, I should have told you about taicho's plan and what really went on between them! Anyway, I'm really happy for you guys."_

Reaction number 7: Yachiru.

"_Yay, cherry blossom-chan got back together with Shorty-chan!"_

Reaction number 8: Renji.

"_Heh, and I bet 3 sakes with Matsumoto that Hitsugaya-taicho would take a few more days…"_

Lastly, reaction number 9: 9th division.

"_WOOO, TAICHO, WE ARE SO HAPPY FOR YOU!"_

Needless to say, everyone congratulated her, since everyone knew about their break-up as well. It was kinda weird, hearing everyone talk about your patch-up with your boyfriend. Sakura stretched her hands in front of her. She was about to pick up her pen again when her door flew open.

Isane was standing there, looking all worried. "Isane, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, putting her pen down.

"Sakura-taicho… Unohana-taicho would like me… like me… to tell you…" Isane answered, panting.

"Take your time to catch your breath first, and then tell me what the matter is."

"Hinamori-chan has awoke."

Sakura stood up abruptly and rushed past Isane. She had managed to hear Isane tell her that Hitsugaya was also being informed about this.

Once out of her study, Sakura flash-stepped towards the 4th division.

==x==

Emm297: Well, that's chapter 20. I'm REALLY SORRY FOR THE MONTH LONG WAIT, I HAVE FINAL TERM EXAMS NOW AND I REALLY CAN'T AFFORD TO FAIL… I'm really sorry for not informing you guys…

Sakura: Don't worry, Emm-chan, it's not all your fault…

Emm297: It so totally is! I really don't want to lose my loyal readers…

Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, I especially liked the scene between Sakura and Hitsugaya.

My next chap will not come one so soon, most probably after October 9th, because that's the day I will be free of all examinations and tests! YAY! So, check back during that time!

This chapter is dedicated to all those who reviewed, all those who favourited, story alerted, and all those who have been loyally following Sakura's story. I really thank you from the bottom of my heart.

This chapter is also for a special friend of mine, Jeanne. It's her birthday present! So here you go Jeanne! (AND HITSUGAYA'S STILL MINE! HAHA!)

PLEASE REVIEW, but I understand if you don't… anyway, I love everyone who supports my story! You guys rock!


	21. Visiting Hinamori

Emm297: Well, here's chapter 21! I've been feeling uppity about studying and I couldn't resist doing this chapter, especially since Sakura just got back with Hitsugaya! So… let's see. Hitsugaya-chan has completed his work, so he's back here for Disclaimer Duty!

Hitsugaya: I'm going to say this once. Emm-chan does not own Bleach, only Sakura and her Zanpakutou and its moves. There, I'm done. Now may I please go?

Emm297: Aww, you want to see Sakura eh? Well, I won't stop you, so here's chapter 21!

==x==

Once out of her study, Sakura flash-stepped towards the 4th division.

3 thoughts ran through her head. She wondered what Hinamori would say, she wondered what she herself would say to Hinamori.

And she wondered what Hitsugaya would do.

At this, Sakura felt a stab of jealousy. What if he did something like the last time? Furthermore, it had only been two weeks since they had made up.

No, she told herself. Hitsugaya, _her _Hitsugaya, would never do that to her.

He promised.

==x==

Hitsugaya raced towards the 4th division. He had been drinking a cup of hot tea when the 4th squad member came to tell him the news that Hinamori had awoken. And he almost spilled it onto his table.

There was nothing on his mind now, only Hinamori.

Nothing else mattered more.

At this thought, Hitsugaya felt a wave of remorse flow through him, as the picture of a Captain with dark brown hair and a white ribbon flashed through his mind.

Damn. He had forgotten about Sakura for that one fleeting moment. He mentally smacked himself. He really didn't want to have to go through the heart-ache that he had when her broke up with her again.

And he didn't want to hurt her. Not again.

==x==

Sakura arrived at the fourth division just a few seconds before Hitsugaya. She smiled at him and he returned it.

"So… You got the message?" he asked.

"Yeah, I rushed here immediately." She replied, as they walked into the division quarters together.

The division member at the reception desk didn't have to ask; he bowed and pointed at the corridor on his left. Hitsugaya and Sakura nodded, as they flash-stepped towards Hinamori's room.

==x==

Hitsugaya and Sakura slid into the room quietly. Unohana was blocking their view of Hinamori. The older woman turned to face the two captains.

"Ah, Hitsugaya-taicho and Sakura-taicho. I'll leave you two here with her then." Unohana stood up straight and walked towards the door. Just as she passed the two captains, she whispered, "But remember, please don't stress her too much. She just woke up." And with that, the 4th squad captain left.

As soon as the door closed gently behind them, the two friends heard a faint voice.

"Shiro-chan?"

Hitsugaya looked at Sakura for some sort of permission to go to her side. Sakura shrugged and gave him a "I'm-not-your-mother-why-ask-me" look.

Hitsugaya made his way towards Hinamori, with Sakura walking closely behind him.

Hitsugaya noticed that Hinamori's face was a cold shade of white, and her face was drenched in sweat. She had horrible eye bags (who would have thought? She slept for so long), and her hands looked cold and clammy. At this sorry sight, Hitsugaya could not help but feel anger at Aizen for doing this to the 5th division fukutaicho.

"Shi..shiro-chan?" Hinamori asked weakly, struggling to keep her eyes open.

Hitsugaya nodded and took hold of her hand, hoping that Sakura wouldn't mind this. Feeling no sudden surge of reiatsu, Hitsugaya sat down beside Hinamori's bed.

"Shiro-chan, where am I?" Hinamori asked.

"The 4th division."

Hinamori nodded slightly and looked up at the ceiling. A wave of reminiscence came over her. "Shiro-chan, do you remember the times… before I entered the Academy, and you and I would sit outside the house eating watermelons?"

"Hai," he answered, as Hinamori started reminiscing about the times they spent together. The times when Sakura wasn't around.

Hitsugaya nodded at all the things that Hinamori said, all the time thinking if Sakura was listening. Suddenly, he heard a totally different voice speak up. "I'll leave you two to… catch up."

Hitsugaya turned, and saw Sakura already walking towards the door.

He wanted to reach out to her, to tell her to stay, but Hinamori's hand was clasped firmly onto his, and he had no way to free himself. He could only watch as Sakura silently closed the door, not even taking a single glance at him.

==x==

Sakura took a step back from the door and sighed. She knew that coming here was a bad idea, especially since Hinamori had just woken up. But she came anyway as Hinamori _was_ one of her friends, after all.

Just as Sakura was about to turn around, she felt a hand grip her shoulder. She froze, but relaxed once she saw that it was just Unohana-taicho.

"Unohana-san," she acknowledged.

"Sakura-taicho, there is something I need to discuss with you." The 4th squad captain said seriously.

"Hinamori fukutaicho's condition is very… unstable at the present time. She might slip back into unconsciousness at any moment. Just be prepared," she said.

"Oh… alright." Sakura replied.

Unohana smiled, as she nodded her head slightly before walking away.

Sakura watched Unohana turn the corner before sitting down on the chairs opposite the room.

==x==

Sakura was about to nod off when suddenly, she heard a voice coming from Hinamori's room, calling out for Unohana. Alarmed, she rushed into the room, only to see that Hitsugaya was looking at the doorway, his face with an expression full of worry and anxiousness.

"Sakura! Hinamori… she… she's not… responding!" The 10th squad captain panicked.

"Toushiro-chan, it's ok," Sakura started to explain, but he interrupted her.

"Ok? How could you say that? It's not ok!" He retorted, worry clearly etched on his face.

"Hitsugaya-chan, Hinamori-"

"She's not ok, could you please just get Unohana-taicho?"

"Hitsugaya-chan, Hinamori, she-"

"Hinamori, Hinamori, wake up!"

"HITSUGAYA TOUSHIRO!" Sakura could stand it no more, and yelled at him. Hitsugaya let go of Hinamori's hand, surprised. He bowed his head for a moment before looking back at Sakura.

"Gomen nasai Sakura. You were saying?"

Sakura took in a breath before explaining things. As soon as she was done, Hitsugaya had a look of bewilderment mixed with uncertainty.

"So you're saying that this is normal?" He inquired, his right eyebrow raised.

"I'm not saying it's normal, it's just… expected." Sakura answered, as she walked towards him.

Placing am arm on his shoulder, Sakura steered him out of the room. Unohana was there, waiting for them.

"So… it has happened?" Unohana asked. Both Hitsugaya and Sakura nodded. And with that, the black haired woman walked into the room.

==x==

Sakura and Hitsugaya both walked out of the 4th division in awkward silence. Taking a glance at Hitsugaya, Sakura noticed that Hitsugaya looked to be deep in thought. Giving out a quiet sigh, Sakura smiled to herself, as they continued walking.

"Sakura?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Yea?"

"I'm really… sorry… for just now." He said, somewhat shyly.

"Oh? Nah, it's alright. I mean, I know how much you care for Hinamori-chan." Sakura's voice faded a little at the end of the sentence.

"Sakura…" Hitsugaya said, as though he was scared to continue his sentence.

"No, really. I don't mind. If I was in her shoes, I'm sure you would do the same for me, right?" Sakura turned to him and smiled.

"All that… and more." Hitsugaya whispered, as he took his hand in hers.

Sakura placed her head on his shoulder as they continued walking and felt something she hadn't felt for a really long time.

_Contentment._

And she seriously didn't want to let that feeling pass.

==x==

Sakura opened the door to the 9th division's study, surprised to see Hisagi already sitting at his seat and working on the paperwork.

"Taicho, you're back," he stated, as he nodded in acknowledgement of her presence.

"Hai, well… hard at work, eh?" She laughed, taking her seat. There were two fresh piles of paperwork on her table. One pile on the 9th division, and the other on the 5th.

"Strange… I haven't had any paperwork for the 5th division, and now suddenly I have a huge pile? Gosh… The old man needs to reorganize a little." Sakura thought, as she started looking through the 5th division's work.

She roughly took a glance at each piece before placing it on another corner. After sorting through every last piece, Sakura decided to start on them.

There was much to be done, and Sakura was working hard and fast, giving vague answers for every question and proposal. Well, she didn't want to give horribly long answers like Hitsugaya always did, and she didn't want to give too short an answer either. For example, the 11th division's paperwork was always a huge mess.

Before she became a captain, she would drop by 11th to hand Yachiru some candy. And there, Zaraki would always ask, _or rather order_, her to help him with the paperwork, since no one really wanted to do it. And she really couldn't say no to him, since refusing Zaraki was equivalent to getting your head sliced off.

So she would spend the next few hours sitting there, sorting the paperwork, with Yachiru seated next to her and passing a remark every one second. It was really tiring.

And guess what? The 11th division really needed some serious help in their administrative section. For instance, a paperwork on the subject of the welfare of the division would go somewhat like this:

_How would you propose to build the physique of your division members?  
Ans: _Fight

_How does your division pass the time?  
Ans: _Fight

_What does your division like to do?  
Ans:_ Fight

_What do you suggest to improve your division's attitude towards fighting?  
Ans: _Fight

_What do you suggest to help your division become bonded?  
Ans: _For the last time! FIGHT.

Hence, it was obvious that there was much to be done about the way Zaraki handled the 11th division's paperwork. Or maybe he just needed to work on his vocabulary skills and find another word for 'fight'.

At this thought, Sakura laughed silently to herself before trying to finish the paperwork quickly.

==x==

Hitsugaya was pacing up and down his study. His finished paperwork lay neatly in one pile on his oak table. There was nothing left to do, and for once, Hitsugaya felt bored. Matsumoto was nowhere in sight (she was probably in her room drinking sake, he thought).

Suddenly, the door flew open, and Sakura stood there, with a stack of paperwork in her hands.

"Hitsugaya-chan, ready to go?"

"Took you long enough to come, yes, I'm ready."

And the two of them left for the 1st division.

==x==

Emm297: OMGosh, it has been so long since I haven't ended in a cliff hanger!

Sorry for the long wait, but now, my final term examinations are over, which means NO MORE TESTS TILL NEXT YEAR! YAY ME!

Anyway, THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED (SunsetRainbow, Ritzia-chan, toushiroismine18 (Jeanne!), LadyChaos1011, Laughing Bandit D Royale (Siok!), Fallen Angel 2115, criticsjournalforreviewsonly (QY!) and i love athrun) as well as to all those who added me as a fav author, or added OUSF (once upon a Sakura flower) as a fav story or put it under story alert! ARIGATO! Thanks for making my story so successful, and letting it have more than 60 reviews! I AM REALLY GRATEFUL TO EVERYONE OF YOU!

And so, be sure to look out for my next chapter. I have a feeling that OUSF is ending soon, though. DON'T WORRY, THERE **WILL **BE A SEQUEL, I PROMISE!

But please, I would like to ask a question! Would you guys be ok if I killed of Hinamori? Please tell me, like PM or through review!

LOOK OUT FOR CHAPPIE 22!


	22. Fall Dance

Emm297: Well, here's chapter 22! Just so you guys know, I won't be covering the Bount Arc for the sequel; instead I'll make my new arc! Anyway, let's start with TWENTY-TWO!

Sakura: HAI! Emm-chan does not own any part of Bleach. Whatever you don't recognize from the anime or manga, for example, me, are the only things that belong to her.

Emm297: HAI! Let's get the ball rolling!

==x==

"Hitsugaya-chan, what's the rush?" Sakura questioned. They were shunpo-ing towards the 1st division, and Sakura was having a hard time trying not to let the pieces of paper slip through her hands.

"Nothing, just that if we do this quick… we'll have more time for other things." He replied, in his usual cool monotonous voice.

Letting out a small smile, Sakura tightened her grip on her paperwork. "Well then, I'll race you there!" And with that, she was gone in a gust of wind.

Slightly surprised, Hitsugaya shook his head and smiled to himself. It was hard not to feel happy when you were with Gotei 13's chirpiest captain. He focused on his front view, and dashed off behind Sakura.

==x==

Sakura arrived at the 1st division just a few moments before her boyfriend. "Hitsugaya-chan, you're slow." She joked.

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "You were just fast."

"Fair enough."

Hitsugaya shifted his hand so he looked liked he was ushering Sakura into the 1st division. "After you."

"Why, thank you," Sakura replied. She mock-curtsied before entering the 1st division quarters.

==x==

"Sakura taicho! Hitsugaya Taicho!" The 1st division fukutaicho, Sasakibe Chōjirō greeted. Nodding their heads, the two taichos handed him the stacks of paperwork.

"Arigato, Sakura Taicho, Hitsugaya Taicho." Chōjirō said. Both the two childhood friends turned to leave, but the 1st division fukutaicho stopped them.

"Ano… Taichos, are you aware of the Fall dance that will be taking place tomorrow?"

"Fall Dance?" came Hitsugaya's voice.

"Tomorrow?" said a surprised Sakura.

"Hai! All captains and lieutenants are expected to go. It is optional for the other division members though. And the new recruits for the new division intake will be there as well, so the captains can interact with them."

"Oh, I see…" Sakura murmured.

"Hai, that's all you need to know, the meeting place is in the grand hall, at 7.30pm." And with that, the 1st division lieutenant adjusted his Shinigami robes and walked into the administrative office of the 1st division.

==x==

"A dance…" Sakura thought. They were walking back towards the 10th division together, and Hitsugaya looked deep in thought as well.

"Sakura? Are you going to this dance?" Hitsugaya suddenly asked.

"Yeah… Chōjirō said that it was compulsory for us, right?" Sakura replied. Hitsugaya merely shrugged, and the dance was no longer brought up by both of them.

Upon reaching the 10th division study, Sakura plopped herself onto the all-too familiar sofa. "Ahh… It feels nice to be back here."

"You only like being back here because of the sofa? Gosh, you have no idea how much that hurts, Sakura." Hitsugaya said in a fake hurtful tone.

"Aww, you know that you're the one who makes me so excited to be here." Sakura answered.

Hitsugaya walked over to the sofa and sat down next to his girlfriend. Putting his hand around her neck, he pulled her closer to him. Sakura gladly leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Yes, this is definitely why I like to come here," she joked, inhaling his fresh clean scent.

Hitsugaya was about to reply when suddenly the door to the study came flying open.

"TAICHOOOOOOO!" Matsumoto announced her arrival, loudly calling for her captain.

As soon as she spotted Hitsugaya and Sakura on the couch, instead of backing out like a normal person would react, Matsumoto cooed and rushed forward to 'engulf' the both of them.

"Taichos! Have you heard about the Fall Dance? EVERYBODY'S talking about it!" she squealed.

"Rangiku-chan… can't breathe..." Sakura choked. Hitsugaya could barely whisper a single syllable; his face was turning redder by the second.

"Oh! Sorry, I forget sometimes." And with that the two captains felt themselves gasping for air once more.

"Now, where were we? Oh, HAVE YOU GUYS HEARD ABOUT IT YET?" Matsumoto screamed in excitement.

"Yes, yes, we have! Now would you please stop screaming? It's getting annoying." Hitsugaya snapped.

"Aww, taicho, I know I disturbed your moment with Sakura-taicho-chan, but you don't need to be so mean!" Matsumoto pouted.

Sakura laughed, as she watched her two friends argue. "You know, I'm kinda thankful I left for the 9th. If I hung around you guys too much, I would probably go deaf," she chuckled.

"Sakura-taicho-chan! You _are _going for the dance right?" Matsumoto asked.

"Hai, of course. It's compulsory for us, isn't it?"

"Well… do you have anything to wear?"

Sakura paused for a moment. Her eyes and mouth suddenly shot wide open. "Oh my gosh! I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!" she shrieked, and in a split second, she was gone.

Hitsugaya shook his head, just to make sure he wasn't hearing things. Did Sakura just bolt right out because of having nothing to wear? That was so unlike her.

"Taicho, this is a formal gathering, of course Sakura-taicho-chan wants to look her best." Matsumoto said, as though she had read his mind.

Hitsugaya nodded slightly, before smirking. Girls, he would never understand them.

==x==

Sakura was frantically checking her closet for any decent looking kimono.

"This one… no… it's too… this one? No, it's a bit too… how about this?" she asked herself, as she flung different pieces of clothing onto her bed behind her.

After ten minutes, she had 3 final choices. Laying them on her bed, she looked at each one closely.

"Hmm… should I take A, B or C?" she wondered, placing her hand under her chin.

"Staring at the kimonos won't help," came Kasumi's voice.

"Kasumi! You can help me decide!" Sakura said eagerly.

"No thanks, you're alone on this one. My sense of style is zero." Kasumi replied, as its voice left her head.

"KASUMI, WAIT!" Sakura yelled (in her mind, of course). Unfortunately, the blue dragon spirit did not answer.

"I guess I'm alone again…" Sakura mumbled. Turning back towards the 3 kimonos, Sakura placed her hand on her hip. "I know! I'll spin an arrow of some sort!"

Looking around, Sakura spotted a piece of paper with a paper arrow attached to it. When she was in the real world, she, along with Orihime and Tatsuki, would usually play this game called 'Truth or Dare'. And the paper with the arrow that was in her hands was the very same one they used to use.

"Ok… A, B or C… A, B or C…" Sakura gave the arrow a quick push.

==x==

Emm297: Well, CHAPTER 22 IS DONE :)

And… THIS SHOULD BE THE SECOND LAST CHAPTER OF OUSF (once upon a Sakura flower)! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S GONNA END!

Like I said before, I'm gonna make my own arc as part of the sequel, so expect some more SakuraXHitsugaya goodness (HAHA). The sequel will probably be called "The journey" or something like that, I'm not really sure of it at this time. Anyway, I will keep you guys updated when I post the last chapter. But be sure to author alert me so you know when the sequel will come out!

Thanks to SunsetRainbow, Laughing Bandit D Royale, toushiroismine18 for reviewing :) LOVE YOU GUYS!

Alright,

Ja ne and see you in chapter 23, the FINALE OF ONCE UPON A SAKURA FLOWER!


	23. Dresses, Songs and Interviews

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! THIS CHAPTER WILL NOT BE THE FINALE OF OUSF!

Emm297: This is the 2nd last chapter! Hehe, how could I end it here? Chapter 23 people!

Sakura: Emm-chan does not own Bleach or its characters, she only owns what you don't recognize from the anime.

Emm297: Yep, here's the second last chapter of Once Upon a Sakura Flower!

==x==

"Ok… A, B or C… A, B or C…" Sakura gave the arrow a quick push.

All of a sudden, the door to her room flung open, and Sakura practically jumped back in surprise.

"Rangiku-chan? What are you doing here?" asked Sakura, looking in the direction of her doorway. Matsumoto stood there, with a huge shopping bag in hand.

"Why, I'm here to save you!" Matsumoto replied, placing the bag she had gently on the floor.

"Rangiku-chan, what's that?"

Matsumoto smiled and took out a champagne coloured dress from the bag. "It's your outfit for the Fall Dance!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "My outfit? I thought we were supposed to wear kimonos?"

Matsumoto shook her head. "Didn't you see the flyer? It said 'No Kimonos'."

The 9th division captain let out a "oh" and proceeded to 'inspect' the dress. "Rangiku-chan, I can't possibly wear this…"

"Why not?" Matsumoto inquired.

"For one… it's too… you know…" Sakura said, trying to find the right word. The silk dress was to be wrapped around her chest (A/N: I have no idea what type this is called) and there were beads that formed snowflakes at the front. It also had a white chiffon puffy-like inner lining near the bottom.

"Too…?" Asked Matsumoto, obviously not getting what Sakura was hinting at.

"Don't you think that it's a bit too… much? I mean, I could always wear a little black dress or something…"

"Aww, Sakura-taicho, don't be such a spoilsport! Besides, I'm sure taicho's eyes would just pop out after seeing you in this…" Matsumoto giggled.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. Sure, she would love to see that, but…

"Rangiku-chan, I really don't think I should wear this! Besides, I would really feel bad if you went to buy something for me and not keep it for yourself…"

The strawberry blonde woman just laughed. "Relax! I bought another dress for myself," she said, as she pulled out a black dress from the same bag. The black dress was sleeveless and had rainbow sparkles on it.

"And… I bought us scarves as well!" Matsumoto cheered, as she took out a black scarf and a gold one from the bag.

"Really, Rangiku-chan…I really couldn't take it…" Sakura said, in a somewhat pleading voice.

"Nonsense, now hurry up and try it on! I can't wait to see you in it!"

==x==

Twenty minutes later, Matsumoto had managed to convince Sakura that the dress really suited her and that she should wear it to the Fall Dance. And she even convinced Sakura to let down her hair for once, instead of having it tied up with that white ribbon. Something that Sakura hadn't done for a long time, not counting the times when she was sleeping.

As soon as she had shown her friend out the door, Sakura went over to her bed and stared at the champagne coloured dress. Of course, it was really pretty, considering the fact that Matsumoto had spent a good 20 minutes choosing it (she usually took just 5 minutes to get a dress), but still. The idea of wearing something like that in front of so many people… Ugh, she shuddered at that thought.

Sakura neatly clipped the dress to a hanger and hung it on her clothing rack. There would be plenty of time to worry about wearing that dress in public, she thought, as she picked her Zanpakutou up and walked back to her study room, no doubt to get more paperwork done.

==x==

Sakura sat down at her desk, armed with a cup of Chinese tea and a pen. The stack of paperwork lay on her desk, waiting to be sorted, wrote on and compiled. She looked at the first sheet of paperwork. It was a list of Shinigami who were going to graduate, and a biodata of each of them. There was also a list of instructions attached to the sheet of paper.

_Dear Taicho,_

_Attached is the list of Shinigami who have been deemed fit to graduate from the Shinigami Academy. You may look through it and make a list of the select few (by select few we mean 4) that you think would benefit from joining your division. Please submit their names to the Sou-taicho's office by 4pm tomorrow. You will be allowed to enter the Academy from 12pm to 3.30pm tomorrow to interview the graduates. The official list will be put up outside the first division at exactly 5pm tomorrow. Therefore, please use the fall dance as an opportunity to interact with your new members._

_Arigato, the Shinigami Academy. _

"Well, this method sure is different from the time when _**I **_graduated…" mumbled Sakura, as she proceeded to look at the first name on the list.

==x==

After drinking 3 cups of Chinese tea, 2 cups of water and spending a good 5 minutes looking at each of the 52 candidates' biodata (you do the math), Sakura had managed to select 6 potential candidates to join her division, as well as another 5 to join the 5th.

9th division: Miyuki Kaori, Shiwa Raiden, Tajin Satoshi, Akino Yuri, Akawa Hanoko and Hotaka Kazuo.

5th division: Miyubi Kana, Hinata Ryuu, Suzume Sayuri, Tonsuwa Sango and Tadashi Shigeru.

Just as she finished noting down the last name on a piece of paper (for future reference), a knock resounded throughout the room.

"Come in," Sakura called out.

The door slid open to reveal a Shinigami, whom Sakura instantly recognized as the 5th seat of the 1st division (he was always there when she delivered her paperwork).

"Sakura taicho," the guy greeted. Sakura nodded to acknowledge him.

"Ano… the Fall Dance committee has expressed its… wish, to have you sing at the dance tomorrow."

Sakura, who was tidying up her desk, immediately looked up. "_SING_?"

"H… Hai… Some of… some of us heard you sing the other night. In the bar… and we were hoping you would sing during the fall dance." The Shinigami replied nervously.

Sakura shot a look of disbelief. Since when did people hear her sing?

As if reading her thoughts, the Shinigami spoke up. "That day… in the bar… when you were… err… singing about Hitsugaya-taicho?"

Sakura's eyes widened. People still remembered that? And the girl involved in that had already forgotten about it. Who wouldn't, when the object of your affections finally apologized and you two had already made up?

"Sakura-taicho?"

The captain in question was still contemplating on whether she should agree to the guy's request. If she said no, she would risk having Yamamoto breathe down her neck (since he was the guy in charge of the Fall Dance Committee). But if she said yes, well… she would risk major embarrassment in front of not just someone, but EVERYONE. Well, not everyone, but most of the 'everyone'.

The Shinigami was still waiting for an answer. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, and it wasn't really helping Sakura make her decision.

Lifting her head to face the Shinigami, Sakura took a deep breath.

"Sure, I'll do it."

Pleased with the answer he got, the Shinigami quickly left the room, not giving Sakura a chance to change her mind.

==x==

"Dang, what have I gotten myself into now…" she mumbled, as she heard the door close swiftly behind the unnamed Shinigami.

Looking back at her stack of paperwork, Sakura shook her head and quietly continued her work.

"Evening, Taicho!" Hisagi said, walking into the study. "Same to you," replied Sakura, without even looking up.

Shrugging off the feeling that something was wrong with his captain, Hisagi proceeded to sit at his desk, looking around for something to do. It seemed that due to his *cough* great efficiency, he had managed to complete all his paperwork.

"Hisagi, do you mind helping me complete the leftover paperwork I have?" asked Sakura, finally looking at her fukutaicho.

"Sure," he answered, walking over to her desk to take the paperwork.

Flashing a smile to her lieutenant, Sakura stood up and walked towards the door. Just as she was about to slide open the wooden door, she spoke up.

"Oh, and Hisagi? Please look through the piece of paper I attached. The one on the potential new members of our division."

And with that, the 9th division taicho walked out of the study.

==x==

Closing the door to her room, Sakura flopped down onto her bed.

"What song am I going to sing?" she wondered. Just as quickly as she had lay down, she got up and adjusted her ponytail, walking towards her chest of drawers.

"I know! Ichigo must have some idea…" she thought, as she pulled out her Shinigami cell phone, punching Rukia's number into it.

==x==

_(Meanwhile, in Karakura Town)_

Rukia was sitting in Ichigo's closet, with her feet dangling outside. Just then, her cell phone began to ring.

"Rukia, what's that horrid ringing sound?" Ichigo asked, glaring at his raven haired friend.

"My Shinigami cell phone. Now shut up," she said, as she answered the call.

"Kuchiki Rukia," she reported.

"RUKIA!" Sakura yelled, causing the girl to place the phone a good 15cm away from her ear.

Hearing the commotion, Ichigo looked up from his homework. "Who's that?"

"Sakura-taicho, now please shut up." Rukia replied, before putting the phone back at her ear. "Hai, Sakura-taicho. Is anything the matter?"

"Nope, but I was just wondering if Ichigo was with you, cause I need to talk to him." The captain asked.

"Hai… but, may I ask, why exactly do you need to talk to Ichigo?" Rukia inquired.

Ichigo, upon hearing his name in the conversation, immediately glanced up. "If she wants to talk to me, just give me the damn phone!"

Rukia shot him a warning look, before returning back to the phone call.

"Oh nothing, I just want to ask him something. Now please, could you pass the phone to him?"

Not wanting to get punished for defying a captain, Rukia reluctantly passed her cell to the orange haired boy, who snatched it from her hands.

"Sakura! It's been awhile, hasn't it?" greeted Ichigo.

"Hai! How are you?"

"A little tired, but I'll live. So… you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah…" Sakura replied, spilling everything about the Fall Dance singing thing to her friend. Ichigo listened quietly, not uttering a single syllable while Sakura was talking (this surprised Rukia greatly, and she wondered if Sakura had said something drastic).

"And now, I have absolutely no idea what to sing!" finished the captain, in one breath.

"Hmm… I have an idea. How about this one…"

==x==

After thanking Ichigo, Sakura smiled and placed her cell phone back into her Shinigami robes. Even though she had not seen Ichigo for a few months, she knew that he could always be counted on in times of need. After all, it was him who helped her adjust to life in Karakura back then, wasn't it?

==x==

Sakura wearily opened up her eyes. Groaning, she fumbled for her alarm clock. "Argh… It's only 11.48…" she mumbled, as she placed her clock back down and pulled the covers over herself once more.

Suddenly, realization hit her.

"Wait… IT'S 11.48?" she screamed, hastily throwing the covers off of herself and rushing into the toilet.

After a quick brush of the teeth and a really quick shower, Sakura slipped on a new pair of Shinigami robes and promptly rushed off towards the Shinigami Academy, which was a good 5 min flash step away.

==x==

"Hey, Sakura, you're late." Came the icy cold voice of Hitsugaya Toushiro, as Sakura skidded to a halt in front of the Jyuubantai-taicho.

"Sorry, overslept," she panted.

"I figured as much," he responded, as the gates to the Academy swung open. The 10 captains (minus Yamamoto) walked into the grounds briskly, lead by a teacher from the Academy.

They entered a huge auditorium-like room, where there was a huge bunch of Shinigami in the Academy uniform. These, were no doubt the supposed 'graduates'.

"Taichos, these are the new batch of Shinigami who will graduate from the Academy tomorrow. All of them are wearing name tags, so feel free to talk to anyone of them." The teacher said, before bowing and taking her leave.

The 10 captains stood facing the graduates, who looked really nervous. A laugh echoed through the room and all heads turned towards the source of the sound – Kyoraku taicho.

"Juushiro, since no one is willing to take a step, how about we go first?" The 8th division taicho said. Ukitake smiled and nodded before walking off towards the group of students.

At once, the whole hall bubbled with excitement, as the group of Shinigami spread themselves out as the rest of the captains walked towards the Shinigami as well.

==x==

After 2 and a half hours in the room, Sakura had managed to talk to everyone on her list, as well as another random Shinigami who had approached her, saying that she 'liked her white ribbon a lot'.

Without waiting for the full 3 and a half hours to pass, Sakura left the room to properly write down her selected Shinigami graduates. Namely Miyuki Kaori, Shiwa Raiden, Tajin Satoshi, Akino Yuri, Hinata Ryuu, Suzume Sayuri, Tonsuwa Sango and Tadashi Shigeru. They had all possessed great leadership qualities and were not afraid to speak up. Which was what she felt was important when joining her division, as well as the 5th.

Soon after, Sakura had managed to drop off her list to the 1st division, an hour before the speculated time. There was no sign of any captains walking towards the division, so Sakura guessed that they must still be interviewing the candidates (except for Soi Fong and Unohana, who she saw walking back to their own divisions just before she entered the 1st).

Sakura let out a quiet sigh and swiftly walked out of the 1st, headed back for her own room.

If she was going to keep her face, she figured she had better start working on her song.

==x==

Emm297: And here's chapter 23! As I said, this is the 2nd last chapter, not the finale (I just couldn't end it so quickly). And I will throw in an epilogue for good measure as well, so you could say this is the 3rd last chapter (:

And, even though I said I would do my own arc as the sequel, I have changed my mind after seeing the latest episode of Bleach (192!) and re-reading the manga. Instead, I shall cover the Hueco Mundo Arc! I think it'll be a lot cooler than what I originally had in mind. Of course, I will change some stuff here and there, but the general thing will still be there.

And one more thing. Does anyone think I should turn Sakura into a Vizard? Because I'm not very sure myself. Hehe.

So people, keep a lookout for chapter 24 of Once Upon a Sakura Flower!

==x==

Thanks to SunsetRainbow, ultima soul, Mail-Jeeves-69 and Laughing Bandit D Royale for reviewing!

AND BE SURE TO LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!


	24. A Night to Remember

Emm297: HERE'S CHAPTER 24! WHOOPEE!

Sakura: Aww, OUSF is coming to an end...

Emm297: Don't worry; your story will have a sequel! YIPPEE!

Sakura: YAY! Ok, so Emm-chan does not own Bleach, she only owns the things that you don't see in the manga or anime. Like me, for instance.

Emm297: That's right! Ok, on with chapter 24!

==x==

5pm came really quickly, and Sakura found herself at the 1st division notice board, along with Hisagi.

"Well, let's see... Results of new recruits... 1st division, 2nd, ah! There's 9th!" Sakura said, pointing towards the bolded letters that read 'The Ninth Division'.

Sakura smiled when she saw that everyone she wanted managed to make the cut into her division. Same went for the 5th division.

"Well, Hisagi. Looks like we've got nothing more to do here. You're free to go," she said.

"Ano... Go where?" Hisagi asked.

"Err... get ready for the dance? Don't tell me you forgot!" Sakura exclaimed.

"The Dance! Oh right, thanks taicho." Hisagi replied, before shunpo-ing off into the distance.

"Boys..." Sakura sighed, tucking her hands into her pocket and shaking her head slightly. She turned on her heel and walked slowly towards the gate of the 1st division.

"SAKURA-TAICHO-CHAN!" came an all-too-familiar voice. Sakura laughed and spun around, only to be squashed flat into Matsumoto's huge breasts.

"Rangiku-chan... please..." she struggled to say, before finding herself gulping down huge loads of fresh air.

"Sakura-taicho-chan, since you're here, how about we go check out the new recruits list together?" Matsumoto suggested.

"Nah, I've already checked mine," the 9th division captain answered. "Where's Hitsugaya-chan?"

Matsumoto shrugged and pointed towards the direction of the 1st division notice board. "Probably checking the names already."

"Or, he could be waiting for his fukutaicho to appear."

Sakura spun around in the direction of the voice. Hitsugaya strolled towards them, his hands in his pockets as well. "Matsumoto, if you don't hurry, you won't have time to get ready for the fall dance." He stated.

"Oh my gosh! I almost forgot! Sakura-taicho-chan, I'll see you later!" Matsumoto said with a wave, before she shunpo-ed off towards the notice board.

Sakura laughed. It was just so typical of Matsumoto to only be enthusiastic when there was a social gathering to attend.

"So... I'll see you later? You know... at the dance?" Hitsugaya asked, with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

Nodding, Sakura flashed a smile to her boyfriend. "Of course."

Hitsugaya returned the smile and in a flash, he was gone too.

==x==

When she was back in her own room, Sakura immediately opened her closet door. The champagne coloured dress sparkled in the darkness of the closet.

"It's now or never," she thought, as she removed the dress from its hanger, laying it down on her bed. She sat down in front of her mirror and pulled out a little box from her drawer. Inside it was some hair accessories that she had gotten from the time she had been posted to Karakura.

Sakura undid the ribbon in her hair and placed the ribbon down gently on her table. Fishing out a hair curler, she began working on her hair.

==x==

It was already 7 and the dance was in full swing. The hall was decorated with gold, red and orange - autumn colours, and the lights were a dim orange colour. There were tables at the sides of the room, and in the middle was a huge empty space. For dancing, obviously. There were 3 rectangular tables with gold tablecloths on them - these were the food tables. There was also a mini stage at the front of the room, with sound speakers beside it.

Hitsugaya was dressed in a black tuxedo, complete with a dark blue tie. He scanned the room. No sign of Sakura yet. He fumbled with his tie. Scanning the room, he saw that many other Shinigami had already arrived. Most of them were dressed in western formal attire, except for a few people. For example, Byakuya. Apparently he didn't bother going to such extent. Ukitake was also in his captain's uniform - wearing a tux would only make him look much paler than usual.

He continued looking around for people he knew, when finally he found another one. Matsumoto was just beside the food table, holding a cup of sake in her hands. She was dressed in a little black dress, which sparkled in the light of the room. Wrapped around her arms was a black scarf.

"Simple yet elegant," Hitsugaya thought. "I never knew she would settle for such an outfit."

He watched, as Renji walked towards his lieutenant, wanting to strike a conversation with her. Like himself, Renji was also in a tux, except with a red tie, that was loosely hung from his shirt. He watched, as Hisagi came over to join the pair, a cup of sake also in his hands. Glad that his fukutaicho had something to do, Hitsugaya turned away from them and looked towards the food table instead.

There was a lot of food, ranging from Teriyaki Chicken to Red Bean Dango. There was juice, soft drinks, tea and sake. Needless to say, the sake was the most popular among the drink choices.

Just then, the door to the hall opened. Hitsugaya's head turned swiftly.

However, it was just Yachiru and Zaraki. Like Byakuya, Zaraki had apparently thought that dressing up was optional for this event. Hitsugaya sighed, and turned his attention to the 11th squad lieutenant. Unlike her captain, Yachiru was dressed in a light blue outfit, with puffy sleeves and a frilly bottom. The little pink-haired Shinigami even had a little tiara on her head.

Yachiru noticed Hitsugaya looking at her. Jumping off Zaraki's shoulder, she bounced towards the 10th squad captain.

"Shiro-kun, where's Cherry Blossom-chan?" she asked.

"I have no idea," he replied, looking back at the door.

Sensing that his attention was no longer on her, Yachiru smiled and skipped off towards the food table.

Hitsugaya frowned. It wasn't like Sakura to go missing in action without first informing him.

"I should go check on her," he decided. Walking towards the door, he was just about slide the door open when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Turning around, Hitsugaya came face to face with a Shinigami he recognized as one from the 1st division.

"Hitsugaya-taicho," he greeted. "Is Sakura-taicho around? I need to speak to her."

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "No, I was just about to go look for her. Why do you need to talk to her?"

"Oh, it's nothing. She promised to help us do something for the dance, that's all."

Hitsugaya nodded. "I see. I'm going to look for her now, so you can relax." He turned and placed his hand on the handle of the door. Just as he was about to pull the handle, the door opened.

"Hitsugaya-taicho," Isane said, acknowledging his presence.

"Kotetsu-fukutaicho," he replied. "Did you happen to see Sakura anywhere?"

"Hai, she was a few metres away from me, so I guess she should be here anytime now."

Muttering a small 'oh', Hitsugaya smiled and walked towards the food table. If Sakura was already on her merry way, why go get her when he could get a cup of green tea to drink?

==x==

He was already half-way through his cup of tea. And still, no sign of the 9th squad captain.

"That Sakura is really taking her time to walk here," he thought.

Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun around and saw a female Shinigami standing before him. She was in a light gold coloured dress (or was it champagne coloured? He couldn't tell), and had a gold chiffon scarf around her arms. Her dark brown hair was long, with soft curls at the end. Her eyes were a blue colour, just like Sakura's, except brighter.

"May I help you?" Hitsugaya asked. For all he knew, this girl could be one of the students from the Shinigami Academy that he had recruited (He couldn't remember how all the recruits looked like), and she merely wished to speak to him.

"You can start by saying hello to me," came the reply. The voice seemed really familiar, but he couldn't put his finger to it. It sounded like Sakura's, except more cheerful and bubbly.

"Ok then," he answered, playing along. "Hello, may I help you?"

A look of annoyance flashed across the girl's face. "Please don't tell me you don't know who I am."

"A new recruit to my squad? Well, if that's who you are, I'm sorry, but I don't really remember the faces of-"

The girl suddenly put her finger to his lips. Shaking her head, she lifted her hands and brought her hair into a ponytail. "Do you recognize me now?"

Suddenly it dawned upon him. "S...S...Sakura?"

"Who else?" replied an obviously irritated Sakura. "Sheesh, how could you forget your own girlfriend's face? It's not like I changed my appearance a lot."

"Sorry, you just look... different."

"Really? I didn't want to put my hair down, I mean, it looks much nicer and natural if I tied it up, but Rangiku-chan wouldn't let me... and she made me wear this super sparkly dress... and these horrid heels... and she even bought me a scarf..." Sakura rambled.

This time, it was her who felt a finger at her lips. "It's a good different," Hitsugaya assured her.

Sakura smiled. "Thank you," she said.

"Anytime. And may I add, you look beautiful." Hitsugaya complemented.

"Thanks again," said the 9th division taicho. "Well, I would love to chat, but I promised this 1st division dude that I would do something for him..."

"I know. He told me just now."

Sakura gave another smile before she turned and walked away, her curls bouncing gently on her shoulder as she walked.

Hitsugaya smiled as he watched his girlfriend walk away, towards the stage which he noticed before. He saw her talking to the same Shinigami from the 1st division, and turned to finish his drink.

"Everyone, welcome to the Fall Dance, here in Soul Society." The 1st division Shinigami said on the stage, with a microphone in his hand. Everyone clapped, including Hitsugaya, although he was clapping using his cup.

"Today, we have a really special guest, who promised to sing for us, just for this event." More applause.

"So please, put your hands together for Sakura-taicho of the 9th division!" Hitsugaya's eyes shot up. Sakura promised to sing for the dance? Since when did that happen?

==x==

Sakura walked up the stage slowly, to the loud applause that was coming from the room. The music started; a soft piano sound.

Sakura took a breath to calm herself, adjusted the mike slightly. She closed her eyes for a moment before beginning.

_Can you imagine  
What would happen  
if we could have any dream  
I wish this moment  
Was ours to own it  
And that it would never leave  
Then I would thank that star  
That made out wish come true_

At this moment, she turned slightly to face Hitsugaya. Silently laughing at his confused expression, she sang the next two lines of her song.

_Cause he knows that  
Where you are is where I should be too_

Turning back to face the audience, she continued with her song, taking a sharp breath as she prepared for the chorus.

_Right here, right now  
I'm looking at you and  
My heart loves the view  
Cause you mean everything_

_Right here, I promise you somehow  
that tomorrow can wait  
for some other day to be_

Turning once more to face Hitsugaya, she sang the last line of the chorus.

_But right now there's you and me_

Applause resounded throughout the room, and Sakura smiled, enjoying herself. She found Matsumoto, who flashed a thumbs-up sign at her. Sakura flashed one back and smiled.

_Oh we know it's coming  
And it's coming fast  
As long when there's you and me  
So let's make the second last, make it last_

_Right here, right now  
I'm looking at you and  
My heart loves the view  
Cause you mean everything_

_Right here, I promise you somehow  
that tomorrow can wait  
for some other day to be  
But right now there's you and me_

_Ohh, you and me..._

Sakura turned one last time to face Hitsugaya.

_But right now there's you and... me_

Applause boomed and people cheered for the 9th division taicho. Taking a quick bow, Sakura smiled and left the stage to rejoin Hitsugaya.

"So... how was I?" she asked. Hitsugaya merely stared at her. Sakura chuckled and waved her right hand in front of his face. "Hello, earth to Toushiro?"

That seemed to do it, and Hitsugaya shook his head slightly before answering, "I'm speechless."

Sakura smiled and reached for his unfinished cup of tea, gulping it down before he could protest.

"Ahh, that was nice." she said. Just then, soft music came on and Sakura noticed Shinigami moving towards the empty space, pair by pair.

"Would you like to dance?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I would love to, but I think I'll just embarrass myself," laughed Sakura.

"That's good. I only asked to seem polite," Hitsugaya said. "I'd much rather enjoy a walk outside."

"Exactly what I was thinking. Shall we?" Sakura replied, gesturing towards the door.

Hitsugaya gave his signature smirk as he took Sakura's hand in his and led the way towards the door.

==x==

They kept walking; Hitsugaya leading and Sakura blindly following. They passed the 8th division, and then the 6th, before finally entering the 10th.

"If this is a ploy to make me do your paperwork, you can forget it." Sakura said jokingly.

"I would never dream of it," laughed Hitsugaya, as he continued leading his girlfriend towards the back of the division.

They came into a clearing, and Sakura instantly recognized the place.

"The crystal lake," she said. "How did you know I wanted to come here?"

"I guess great minds think alike, especially if the great minds are in a relationship."

Sakura let out a small quiet laugh. Hitsugaya sat down beside a tree, which was just in front of the lake. He tugged at Sakura's hand, and the brown-haired captain sat next to him, with her head resting on his shoulders.

"It's a beautiful night, don't you think?" she asked, looking out at the lake.

"It's beautiful, but not as much as you," replied Hitsugaya. Sakura looked up at him. "What's wrong with you tonight? You're not usually the one full of cheesy comments."

"Let's just say... that all I'm completely brainwashed by your beauty."

"See? You're doing it again!" she laughed. Hitsugaya smirked, and lay down on the cool grass. Sakura followed, placing her head on his chest. Hitsugaya put his arm around her and Sakura shifted slightly to make herself more comfortable.

"Promise that you'll never leave me? No matter what happens?" Sakura whispered, looking at the full moon hanging in the dark sky.

"Promise." Hitsugaya got up slightly to kiss her forehead. "I love you."

"I know." Sakura said. "I love you too."

And the two of them gazed up into the sky, their free hands intertwined with each others.

Sakura had the feeling it was going to be a wonderful night.

==x==

Emm297: AND THERE IT IS, CHAPTER 24, THE LAST CHAPTER. Not counting the epilogue. But that doesn't count, cause it's only going to be a somewhat bridge to what the sequel's about.

Thanks to SunsetRainbow, Laughing Bandit D Royale, KurokamiHaruhi, toushiroismine18 and Mail-Jeeves-69 for reviewing! As well as to everyone who added my story as a fav or story alert, or put me as author alert. Much loves!

Well, stay tuned for the LAST SEGMENT OF ONCE UPON A SAKURA FLOWER! (isnt it exciting?)

LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER! SEE YOU THEN!


	25. Epilogue: A New Story

Emm297: The Epilogue.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Only Sakura and her Zanpakutou. **_(THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M SAYING THAT HERE...)

==x==

It had been exactly 2 weeks since the fall dance. The new recruits were scheduled to come in today and Sakura was trying to finish up her last bit of work. She had heard that these events could be rather time consuming sometimes. Just then, the door opened.

"Taicho, they're here." Hisagi said, poking his head through the small opening.

"Ok, I'll be there in a sec!"

After hurriedly signing the last few pieces of reports, Sakura picked up her Zanpakutou and left the study. As she was closing the door, she felt an icy presence behind her and smiled.

"Shiro-chan, done so fast?" she asked the white haired captain, who was leaning against the railing.

"There's nothing much to do anyway. You just say 'Hi, I'm Hitsugaya Taicho and I will be your captain from now on'. Anyway, Matsumoto always makes remarks about my height later on and I do not want to stick around to hear them laugh."

Sakura giggled. "Yeah, I remember her doing that."

"Anyway, aren't you supposed to be entertaining your recruits now? What are you still doing here?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Hisagi's with them. Besides, I _was _on my way when someone decided to pay me an unannounced visit..." she replied.

"Well then, you better get going. I'll see you later."

"Right. See you later."

==x==

"Well that was certainly a lot easier than I had expected," Sakura commented. She had finished her 'welcoming speech' and had already briefed them on the rules. After which Hisagi offered to show the 9th recruits around while the 5th would return to their division.

Unknowingly, she found herself already at the 10th division study room. Knocking on the door 3 times, she entered. Hitsugaya was sleeping on his couch and Matsumoto was nowhere to be seen. Walking over to her boyfriend, Sakura couldn't help but smile. He looked so... vulnerable when he was sleeping. Not at all like the cold hard person that he usually portrayed himself as.

Not to mention, he looked extremely cute.

Quietly moving away from his sofa, Sakura walked towards the bookshelf. Picking up a book on the past of Soul Society, she began to read.

==x==

It had been almost an hour since she had begun reading. The book was rather fascinating though; it told of the old systems of Soul Society and even touched on the Noble Houses. It even had something about the Shiba clan, which was removed from the list a long time ago. The book even had a short profile about Yamamoto, since he was the one who set up the Shinigami Academy.

Peering over her book for the first time, Sakura noticed that Hitsugaya was beginning to stir. Slowly, he got up into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. He shook his head and scratched the back of his head. Sakura smiled. The actions were just so... not Hitsugaya-ish. Usually he would be the one who was alert and on-the-go 24/7.

His actions now reminded him of Matsumoto. Or even of herself.

Hitsugaya must have felt her presence, because he swiftly turned around and Sakura suddenly found her book being taken away from her and placed neatly on the shelf once more.

"Hey, had a good sleep?" Sakura asked, to the figure who was leaning against the bookshelf.

"Kinda. But I just had this feeling that someone was invading my study room, so I woke up. "He retorted.

"Wow, you're really good at sensing people's presence, aren't you? Considering the fact that you only took... let's see... ONE WHOLE HOUR?" Sakura snapped sarcastically, emphasizing on her last few words.

Hitsugaya looked taken aback by her sudden outburst. "Sorry, sorry... Just a bit cranky from waking up..." He apologized, before walking over to her and joining her on the 2-seater chair.

Sakura shrugged and placed her head on his shoulder. "By the way, where's Rangiku-chan?"

"Probably drinking sake somewhere... you know how she is."

Sakura chuckled, and closed her eyes.

Just then, the door to the study opened. Sakura's eyes opened instinctively and she saw 2 hell butterflies making its way towards the two of them. They both reached out and allowed one butterfly to land on their finger.

"Attention, Toushime Sakura and Hitsugaya Toushiro. You are to see Yamamoto sou-taicho immediately after you receive this message."

And with that, the hell butterfly fluttered off again.

Turning towards Hitsugaya, Sakura asked, "Why do you think the old guy wants to see us?"

"No idea. Must be important though. He wouldn't ask for two captains for no reason." He answered.

"Let's go then," Sakura suggested, as she rose from her seat. Hitsugaya followed suit and the two of them left the study room of the 10th division.

==x==

"Ah, Hitsugaya-taicho and Toushime-taicho. I'm glad that you could respond to this so quickly." Yamamoto said to the two captains who had just stepped into the 1st division meeting room. The old man gestured towards two chairs in front of him and without any hesitation, Sakura and Hitsugaya sat down.

"Now, back to business. It seems that Aizen... is on the move." Yamamoto told them. Ignoring their shocked expressions, he continued. "He has sent what the Information and Technological Bureau has called 'Arrancar'. They are Hollow who have been given the powers of a Shinigami."

"Earlier this afternoon in the real world, our Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo, was reported to have been defeated by two of this so-called 'Arrancar' while protecting Inoue Orihime and Yasutora Sado."

"And you want us to...?" Hitsugaya inquired.

"I want both of you to pick 3 to 4 more Shinigami and station yourselves in the real world. Get more information on the Arrancar and at the same time eliminate any that cross your path." He looked at the two captains. "Can that be done?"

Both Hitsugaya and Sakura stood up and nodded. "Hai."

"Good. You are to leave Soul Society tomorrow at precisely ten in the morning. Inform me about your choice of Shinigami before you leave and settle everything you need to settle first." Both Sakura and Hitsugaya nodded once more to show that they understood.

"Good. You are both dismissed."

==x==

"So... who do you think we should take?" asked Sakura.

"Hmmm... I was thinking about taking Abarai, what about you?"

"I don't mind Renji either. How about we go ask him now?" she suggested.

He nodded, and the both of them shunpo-ed towards the 6th.

==x==

"So you want me to go with you to the real world?" Renji asked, just to make sure he heard correctly.

Sakura nodded. "Any problem with that?"

"No... I'm honored actually. But I'm not sure if Kuchiki-taicho will let me go..."

"We've spoke to him. It's all ok." Hitsugaya answered, in his usual calm collected tone. "So we take it that you agree to go with us on thi-"

Just then, the door opened."ABARAI!" Sakura wheeled around and saw Ikkaku strolling into the room, closely followed by Yumichika. "WHAT'S THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU GOING ON A MISSION?" he demanded.

"Actually... Hitsugaya-taicho and Sakura-taicho asked me... it had nothing to do with me volunteering..." Renji stammered, obviously a little intimidated by Ikkaku's loud booming voice.

"Hey, Ikkaku. We wouldn't mind you and Yumichika coming along too, would we, Toushiro?" proposed Sakura.

"No, I wouldn't mind. Okay then. We have 3 members of the team and I can tell Yamamoto sou-taicho about ou-" Hitsugaya started.

And then again, the door opened. "TAICHO!" There was no mistaking it. Matsumoto walked briskly into the room, her hands on her hips. "Taicho, you don't mean to tell me you plan on leaving me all alone here!"

"Matsumoto..." Hitsugaya sighed, before continuing. "Fine, you can come along too. But you better behave yourself. Or I'm sending you right back to Soul Society."

Matsumoto did a mock salute. "Yes, sir!"

Sakura laughed. "Well then, we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning, sharp. Be there alright?" she instructed, as she and Hitsugaya left the crowded room.

As soon as they were out of the room, Hitsugaya frowned. "Dang, and I was thinking of making Matsumoto take charge of the division while I was gone. That way, she would learn something about responsibility..."

Sakura patted him on the back and flashed him a smile. "Aww come on, Shiro-chan. The more the merrier, you know? Besides, it'll be nice to have someone watch your back."

"Yeah, like how I watch yours?" He laughed.

"I think you mean how I watch yours." Giving him a light peck on the cheek, she beamed.

"Now let's hurry back and start packing."

==x==

Emm297: WELL. THAT'S THE **VERY VERY VERY** LAST CHAPTER OF ONCE UPON A SAKURA FLOWER, AND IT'S THE STARTING OF THE 'ONCE UPON A' SERIES (That's right, I'm calling it that from now on!).

THE SEQUEL WILL BE UP BEFORE THE NEW YEAR ARRIVES, SO LOOK OUT FOR IT (:

It's called 'Once Upon A Full Moon', and no, I didn't randomly choose a name. The full moon has some significance in the story though. Isn't that nice? Hehe.

Add me under Author Alert if you want to know when the sequel is up. Or you can drop me a message through review and when I post the sequel I will MAKE SURE to inform you about it too!

To summarize, just look out for the sequel, alright? It'll make a good Christmas/Birthday present. You see, my birthday's on Christmas Eve. So it'll be awesome if you reviewed this chapter or just read my sequel when it comes!

Hope you guys review the last chapter, reviews are a nice present too!

Okay then, I'll see you guys in my sequel to Once Upon a Sakura Flower, entitled Once Upon a Full Moon!

**THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED THIS STORY FROM IT'S VERY BEGINNING, AND HAS STUCK WITH SAKURA AND I THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE TIME. EVEN IF YOU JUST REVIEWED ONCE, OR BROWSED THROUGH THE STORY, OR IF YOU ADDED THIS AS FAV STORY OR STORY ALERT, ADDED ME UNDER AUTHOR ALERT, YOU GUYS HAVE MY MILLION THANKS.**

**ROCK ON!**

_A little peek at the sequel..._

_"Hey, Shiro-chan. May I ask you something?"_

_"Sure, what is it?"_

_"What if... just maybe... I turn into someone totally different, someone different from the way I am now?"_

_"How different?"_

_"You know... different. Like I turn bad or evil or something. Or what if I don't remember you anymore? What if-"_

_"I think it's safe to say that no matter who or what you become, I'll still love you all the same." _

_Sakura couldn't deny that that made her feel a little more at ease, but the feeling... that ominous feeling..._

_It just didn't go away completely._


	26. Author's note

_**IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE!**_

Well guys. I know this is kinda late, but hey :)

Well, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed this story :D Even after it was completed, I still got reviews, so… YAY FOR EVERYONE! You guys make me happy, haha (that sounds corny).

Anyway, if you're reading this, thank you too, cause not many people bother to read Authors notes. So YAY FOR YOU too!

So, I would like to say that the sequel to this story, **Once Upon a Moonlit Twilight **has been uploaded for quite sometime now :) If you followed OUSF, you should definitely check out OUMT, because it's really Sakura's continued story. So if you think OUSF was good, you should definitely read Once Upon a Moonlit Twilight. READ READ! Haha.

Thus, I will officially close this story (-sobs-) and I hope you guys have enjoyed it as much as I did :D

Peace, and may God bless you all :)

Love,  
Emm-chan :)


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